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A unified framework for pull control mechanisms in multi‐stage manufacturing systems

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Abstract

This paper presents a unified framework for pull production control mechanisms in multi‐stage manufacturing systems. A pull production control mechanism in a multi‐stage manufacturing system is a mechanism that coordinates the release of parts into each stage of the system with the arrival of customer demands for final products. Four basic pull production control mechanisms are presented: Base Stock, Kanban, Generalized Kanban, and Extended Kanban. It is argued that on top of any of these basic coordination mechanisms, a local mechanism to control the work‐in‐process in each stage may be superimposed. Several cases of basic stage coordination mechanisms with stage work‐in‐process control are presented, and several production control systems that have appeared in the literature are shown to be equivalent to some of these cases.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Thessaly, Pedion Areos, GR‐38334, Volos, Greece

    George Liberopoulos

  2. Laboratoire Productique‐Logistique, Ecole Centrale de Paris, Grande Voie des Vignes, F‐92295, Chatenay‐Malabry, France

    Yves Dallery

Authors
  1. George Liberopoulos
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  2. Yves Dallery
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Liberopoulos, G., Dallery, Y. A unified framework for pull control mechanisms in multi‐stage manufacturing systems. Annals of Operations Research 93, 325–355 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018980024795

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018980024795

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