The goal of this research is to contribute to the understanding of fundamental system-theoretic properties of manufacturing processes modeled as serial production lines in mass production environment. A particular class of processes addressed is referred to as asymptotically reliable serial production lines. Such lines consist of machines that have, in isolation, very good performance characteristics. Nevertheless, being placed in a production line, they may (and often do) operate much less efficiently. Therefore, the main problem addressed in this project is how to design a serial production line so that its performance is as close to that of machines in isolation as possible. A study to develop formalized, analytical procedures for optimal buffer capacity assignment, feedback control of row material dispatch, and optimal quality control system design will be performed. The approach of the study is based on an asymptotic analysis of Markov chains that describe production systems under consideration. Although simplified analysis of Markov processes has been utilized in modern System and Control theory on a number of occasions, the asymptotics employed in this work has not been explored and exploited in the past. It is expected that the results of this project will contribute to the science base of manufacturing systems modeled as serial production lines.
