Performance evaluation and enhancement of multistage manufacturing systems with rework loops

The phenomena of machine failures, defects, multiple rework loops, etc., results in much difficulty in modeling rework systems, and therefore the performance analysis of such systems has been investigated limitedly in the past. We propose an analytical method for the performance evaluation of rework systems with unreliable machines and finite buffers. To characterize the rework flow in the system, a new 3M1B (three‐machine and one‐buffer) Markov model is first presented. Unlike previous models, it is capable of representing multiple rework loops, and the rework fraction of each loop is calculated based on the quality of material flow in the system. A decomposition method is then developed for multistage rework systems using the proposed 3M1B model as one of the building blocks. The experimental results demonstrate that the decomposition method provides accurate estimates of performance measures such as throughput and Work‐In‐Process (WIP). We have applied this method to several problems, such as the determination of the optimal inspection location and the identification of bottleneck machines in rework systems.