Performance analysis of flexible workcentres using multiqueue models

The authors construct a multiqueue model of high fidelity for detailed performance evaluation of flexible machine centres. These models permit one to represent part type specific demand, processing, and setup time values, and to obtain part type specific performance figures. The authors show through numerical examples that variabilities in system parameters can induce paradoxical system behaviour. They also present an enhanced model which concerns a workpiece undergoing several operations at the workcentre, and its application to evaluate alternative scheduling strategies.