Modeling and analysis of a multiple product manufacturing system with split and merge

To satisfy a rapidly changing market and various requirements of customer demand, many automotive assembly systems are designed to increase flexibility. One way to achieve this is to have a system making multiple products through split and merge. This paper presents an iterative approach to model such a kind of flexible manufacturing system with common lines and dedicated branches to process different products. The mathematical procedures, associated with the justification of convergence and accuracy, are provided. A case study is presented to illustrate the applicability of the method.