Mechanisms of Instability in Small-Scale Manufacturing Networks

Abstract

The intrinsically unstable dynamics of production networks is a serious economic danger not only for small companies. For exarnple, ftuctuations of processing times cause an irregular behaviourwhich can lead to production breakdowns due to a lack of material or time intervals with an intennittent accumulation of material or unprocessed orders. However, event-discrete simulations indicate that such fluctuations mayaiso have a constructive effect on the dynamics: If a push strategy 1S applied for the production process, lang down times of the machines after each processed workpiece may lead to a successive incrcasc of certain stocks, which i5 decclerated in the presence of fluctuating processing times. In the more realistic ease of a pull control, improper lot sizes result in an aperiodic behaviour even far constant processing times. The critieal parameters assoeiated with the different effects are identified and further evaluated far linear supply ehains and 5ymmetrically interacting rnanufacturers.