Approximate analysis of production systems operated by a CONWIP/finite buffer hybrid control policy

We present a decomposition method for approximate performance analysis of tandem production systems that are controlled by a hybrid control policy, in which the finite buffers of a flow line are augmented by a CONWIP cell enforcing release control to the line. The method decomposes the system into a set of three different types of building blocks. One is the continuous material two-machine line described in the literature; the second is a special case of the first in which the buffer is infinite. The third type of building block is a synchronization stage that is described and analyzed in this paper. Using these building blocks, we represent both the flow of material and the flow of information in the system. We derive new decomposition equations to relate the parameters of the building blocks. An iterative algorithm is constructed to determine the values of the parameters and to estimate the performance measures of the system. It has been observed to be fast and accurate for a large class of systems.