A simulation analysis of the impact of finite buffer storage on manufacturing system reliability

This paper develops a Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) approach to estimate the system reliability for a multistate manufacturing network with parallel production lines (MMN-PPL) considering finite buffer storage. System reliability indicates the probability that all workstations provide sufficient capacity to satisfy a specified demand and buffers possess adequate storage. The buffers are modeled as a network-structured MMN-PPL. Storage usage of buffers is analyzed based on the MMN-PPL. MCS algorithms are developed to generate the capacity state and to check the storage usage of buffers to determine whether the demand can be satisfied or not. System reliability of the MMN-PPL is estimated through simulation. The MCS approach is an efficient method to estimate system reliability for an MMN-PPL with a reasonable accuracy and time. A pair of practical examples including a tile and a touch panel manufacturing systems shows that system reliability is overestimated when buffer storage is assumed to be infinite. Demand satisfaction probability is further addressed to provide guidance for a proper production policy.