A practical heuristic for effective buffer management

Buffers of work throughout a manufacturing facility enhance throughput. They protect a workstation against variations in processing times and against machine breakdowns of upstream workstations. However, buffer management is still thought to be an open problem: first there is no algebraic way of representing the relationship between buffer size and throughput, and second, the combinatorial nature inherent in the buffer design problem makes it difficult to develop an exact solution. These problems still exist today, as evidenced by the number of research papers that present sophisticated mathematics to solve this complex problem. This paper refutes all the above points. The buffer management method detailed does not use sophisticated mathematics impenetrable by the average production manager. It presents a heuristically-based buffer management method effective at protecting throughput. The mehod will have advantageous effects on the size of buffers and the length of the production lead times, while still providing protection of the throughput rate.