Part Waiting Time Distribution in a Two-Machine Line

In some kinds of manufacturing, the time a part may spend in a buffer between successive operations (such as cleaning and baking in semiconductor fabrication) is limited. Parts that wait longer than this time must be reworked or discarded due to the risk of quality degradation. This constraint is important in several industries, especially the semiconductor industry. To study this issue, we present an analytical formulation for the part waiting time distribution in a Buzacott two-machine one-buffer transfer line. The numerical solution is tested with Little's law. Numerical experiments are provided to illustrate the accuracy of the solution as it is compared with simulation.