Sequencing and loading of products on a flowline

One of the main objectives of balancing a flowline is to achieve maximum throughput with minimum WIP. To that end, various methods have been proposed to control the loading of products (flow of material) on a flowline. However, the sequence in which the products are released is an issue that has rarely been addressed in conjunction with the material flow control mechanisms. In this paper, we address the problem of determining the optimal cyclic sequence in which to load different products on a flowline in order to achieve optimum throughput at minimum WIP. A lower bound on the WIP level is developed which is then used to determine the desired WIP level and the sequence in which to load the products so as to achieve optimum throughput. A new product release policy is also developed. Comparative results of the new product release policy and the sequencing procedure with other product release policies and sequencing heuristics are presented and they indicate superiority of the proposed methods.