Queueing Theory Applications in Manufacturing Systems

Abstract

The manufacturing process involves various operational steps in converting raw materials (used in a generic sense) into finished products. In order to make the process efficient and cost effective, analytical tools such as queueing theory have been used extensively with the advancement of technology. They play an important role in the performance analysis, design, and planning and control of manufacturing processes (see Govil and Fu (1999)). The objective of this chapter is not to review all important contributions that queueing theory has made to manufacturing. Here we provide a few glimpses of such contributions and give three illustrative examples.