Lead time and response time in a pull production control system

In the late 1980s, most manufacturers have shifted their manufacturing strategies from cost and quality to speed. This paper focuses on two performance measures of speed: manufacturing lead time and response time. Manufacturing lead time is the sum of the processing time to convert raw material to finished goods and the waiting time at the buffers. Response time is the time between the customer placing an order and the customer receiving the order. In this paper we develop a queueing model of a pull-based production control system for a single-stage facility. The intent of the model is two-fold. First, we highlight the trade-off between manufacturing lead time and response time. Second, we develop an optimization model to determine an optimal control system that guarantees certain delivery performance (in terms of response time).