The role of queueing network models in performance evaluation of manufacturing systems

Models of manufacturing systems are used for performance evaluation during the design stage, allowing system designers to fine tune their system before proceeding to the implementation phase. In recent years, several queueing network model implementations have been used in the performance evaluation of manufacturing systems. Although these implementations incorporate many of the recent advances in queueing theory, the authors find significant departures from simulation results when applied to realistic manufacturing systems, even for those within the stated domain of assumptions and limitations of these implementations. While utilization estimates are usually quite accurate, the flowtime and work in process results are not as robust.