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  • Fernandes-et-al_Text-Tables-Figures-Appendices_2019

    Rights statement: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in International Journal of Production Research on 5 November 2019, available online:  https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00207543.2019.1685701

    Accepted author manuscript, 1.63 MB, PDF document

    Available under license: CC BY-NC: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

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Lot Synchronization in Make-to-Order Shops with Order Release Control: An Assessment by Simulation

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<mark>Journal publication date</mark>1/11/2020
<mark>Journal</mark>International Journal of Production Research
Issue number21
Volume58
Number of pages15
Pages (from-to)6724-6738
Publication StatusPublished
Early online date5/11/19
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Abstract

Lot splitting is an important strategy for avoiding the starvation of workstations, for accelerating the progress of jobs, and ultimately for improving overall due date performance. While lot splitting has received much attention in the extant literature, the use of alternative lot transfer policies that determine how the flow of lots through the production system is synchronised has been largely neglected. This study uses simulation to assess the performance of different lot synchronisation policies at release and different lot transfer policies on the shop floor in a ConWIP (Constant Work-In-Process) controlled job shop. The results suggest that different approaches should be applied at the release and shop floor levels. While lots should be synchronised in some form at order release, their progress on the shop floor should not be synchronised. Instead, lot coordination should be executed by dispatching in accordance with repetitive lots logic. The results further highlight that if lot progress is synchronised in systems that limit the workload, then lot release should also be synchronised. Otherwise, blocking may occur if lot progress on the shop floor depends on the release of lots, which in turn depends on lot progress. These findings have important implications for research and practice.

Bibliographic note

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in International Journal of Production Research on 5 November 2019, available online:  https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00207543.2019.1685701