Maximizing Throughput of Bucket Brigades on Discrete Work Stations

• Main Authors: LIM, Yun Fong, YANG, Kum Khiong
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2009
• Subjects: bucket brigades; assembly lines; work stations; cross-training; work sharing; Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods; Operations and Supply Chain Management
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/2639; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/lkcsb_research/article/3638/viewcontent/yflim_POM2009AFV.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

One way to coordinate workers along an assembly line that has fewer workers than work stations is to form a bucket brigade. The throughput of a bucket brigade on discrete work stations may be compromised due to blocking even if workers are sequenced from slowest to fastest. For a given work distribu...