An improved dynamic programming algorithm for nonhomogeneous transfer line Kanban optimization

The paper is concerned with the optimization of unreliable transfer lines operated under Kanban production policies. Two cases are studied here: single-part and multi-part nonhomogeneous transfer lines. For multi-part lines, policies of ldquoparallel production of partsrdquo are considered so that methods of single-part performance analysis by decomposition could be generalized. Efficient dynamic programming based optimization algorithms are presented. Numerical results are then reported.