Synchronization Emergence and its Effect on Performance in Queueing Systems

Synchronization as a dynamic process has found applications in many fields. However, it remains unclear how this phenomenon relates to manufacturing systems. The aim of this study is to investigate the conditions for emergence of synchronization and its effects on the wide spectrum of production logistics performance objectives. Using queueing theory as the underlying methodology for deductive modeling of manufacturing systems, we run computer simulations on networks of queueing systems and investigate synchronization measurements in relation to system parameters and performance indicators. Our initial findings suggest that different types of manufacturing systems display different synchronization behaviors and that periodically driven systems with deterministic arrival and service rates display higher synchronization in comparison to stochastic ones. Further, we show that intrinsic physics synchronization is correlated to capacity utilization, throughput times and WIP levels, suggesting the co-activity of operations is related to highly utilized systems, while external physics synchronization is anticorrelated to throughput times and WIP levels, suggesting that higher efficiencies emerge with workstation repetitive behavior.