On the mean production-rate analysis of a two-stage production system with end buffer and random demand

This paper deals with the transient fluctuations of the mean production rate of a two-stage production system subject to interstage and end inspections and end buffer. The interstage and end inspections are instantaneous, and the end buffer is with finite capacity of size N. A stochastic model is developed to describe the system, and analytical expressions to evaluate the mean production rate (MPR) of machine j (¸=I,II) in [0,t] with arbitrary distributions of processing times at the stages of production and exponential supply and demand pattern have been obtained by using the state-space method and the regeneration-point technique. A particular case is investigated, and numerical results are presented.