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Process Flexibility Design in Unbalanced Networks

Author

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  • Tianhu Deng

    (Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720)

  • Zuo-Jun Max Shen

    (Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720)

Abstract

Several design guidelines and flexibility indices have been developed in the literature to inform the design of flexible production networks. In this paper, we propose additional flexibility design guidelines for unbalanced networks, where the numbers of plants and products are not equal, by refining the well-known Chaining Guidelines. We study symmetric networks, where all plants have the same capacity and product demands are independent and identically distributed, and focus mainly on the case where each product is built at two plants. We also briefly discuss cases where (1) each product is built at three plants and (2) some products are built at only one plant. An extensive computational study suggests that our refinements work very well for finding flexible configurations with minimum shortfall in unbalanced networks.

Suggested Citation

  • Tianhu Deng & Zuo-Jun Max Shen, 2013. "Process Flexibility Design in Unbalanced Networks," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 15(1), pages 24-32, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormsom:v:15:y:2013:i:1:p:24-32
    DOI: 10.1287/msom.1120.0390
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. David Simchi-Levi & Yehua Wei, 2015. "Worst-Case Analysis of Process Flexibility Designs," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 63(1), pages 166-185, February.
    3. Xi Chen & Tengyu Ma & Jiawei Zhang & Yuan Zhou, 2019. "Optimal Design of Process Flexibility for General Production Systems," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 67(2), pages 516-531, March.
    4. Zhenzhen Yan & Sarah Yini Gao & Chung Piaw Teo, 2018. "On the Design of Sparse but Efficient Structures in Operations," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(7), pages 3421-3445, July.
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    6. Perraudat, Antoine & Dauzère-Pérès, Stéphane & Vialletelle, Philippe, 2022. "Robust tactical qualification decisions in flexible manufacturing systems," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    7. Zhen Xu & Hailun Zhang & Jiheng Zhang & Rachel Q. Zhang, 2020. "Online Demand Fulfillment Under Limited Flexibility," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(10), pages 4667-4685, October.
    8. Xi Chen & Jiawei Zhang & Yuan Zhou, 2015. "Optimal Sparse Designs for Process Flexibility via Probabilistic Expanders," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 63(5), pages 1159-1176, October.
    9. Antoine Désir & Vineet Goyal & Yehua Wei & Jiawei Zhang, 2016. "Sparse Process Flexibility Designs: Is the Long Chain Really Optimal?," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 64(2), pages 416-431, April.
    10. Timothy C. Y. Chan & Douglas Fearing, 2019. "Process Flexibility in Baseball: The Value of Positional Flexibility," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(4), pages 1642-1666, April.
    11. Jingui Xie & Yiming Fan & Mabel C. Chou, 2017. "Flexibility design in loss and queueing systems: efficiency of k-chain configuration," Flexible Services and Manufacturing Journal, Springer, vol. 29(2), pages 286-308, June.
    12. Cong Shi & Yehua Wei & Yuan Zhong, 2019. "Process Flexibility for Multiperiod Production Systems," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 67(5), pages 1300-1320, September.
    13. Xuan Wang & Jiawei Zhang, 2015. "Process Flexibility: A Distribution-Free Bound on the Performance of k -Chain," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 63(3), pages 555-571, June.
    14. Shixin Wang & Xuan Wang & Jiawei Zhang, 2021. "A Review of Flexible Processes and Operations," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 30(6), pages 1804-1824, June.
    15. Timothy C. Y. Chan & Daniel Letourneau & Benjamin G. Potter, 2022. "Sparse flexible design: a machine learning approach," Flexible Services and Manufacturing Journal, Springer, vol. 34(4), pages 1066-1116, December.
    16. Chua, Geoffrey A. & Chen, Shaoxiang & Han, Zhiguang, 2016. "Hub and Chain: Process Flexibility Design in Non-Identical Systems Using Variance Information," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 253(3), pages 625-638.
    17. Dipankar Bose & A. K. Chatterjee & Samir Barman, 2016. "Towards dominant flexibility configurations in strategic capacity planning under demand uncertainty," OPSEARCH, Springer;Operational Research Society of India, vol. 53(3), pages 604-619, September.
    18. Henao, César Augusto & Ferrer, Juan Carlos & Muñoz, Juan Carlos & Vera, Jorge, 2016. "Multiskilling with closed chains in a service industry: A robust optimization approach," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 166-178.
    19. Mabel C. Chou & Geoffrey A. Chua & Huan Zheng, 2014. "On the Performance of Sparse Process Structures in Partial Postponement Production Systems," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 62(2), pages 348-365, April.
    20. Moritz Julius Ziegler & Kilian Seifried & Philipp Kuske & Moritz Fleischmann, 2019. "TRUMPF Uses a Mixed Integer Model as Decision Support for Strategic Production Network Design," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 49(3), pages 213-226, May.

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