Reliability evaluation of production systems with finite buffers subject to time-dependent and operation-dependent failures

• Published in: Annals of operations research Vol. 340; no. 1; pp. 671 - 691
• Main Authors: Zhang, Ding, Luo, Yi, Liu, Qiang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.09.2024; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Assembly lines; Assembly-line methods; Buffers; Business and Management; Combinatorics; Failure; Feasibility studies; Hypotheses; Manufacturing; Operations research; Operations Research/Decision Theory; Original Research; Performance evaluation; Performance prediction; Pistons; Polymorphism; Production lines; Production management; Production processes; Reliability (Engineering); Reliability analysis; System reliability; Systems analysis; Theory of Computation; Time dependence; Work stations; China; Production system; Time-dependent failure; Universal generating function; Finite buffers; Multi-state reliability; Operation-dependent failure
• ISSN: 0254-5330; 1572-9338
• DOI: 10.1007/s10479-024-05891-z

The accurate due-date reliability evaluation of demand satisfaction is vital for due-time performance prediction of production systems. This paper proposes an improved multi-state reliability evaluation approach for production systems with finite buffers subject to time-dependent failures (TDFs), operation-dependent failures (ODFs). Instead of TDF machine model or ODF machine model, a modified machine reliability model considering both TDFs and ODFs is presented as a basis. And then an equivalent workstation reliability model is proposed by steady probability analysis of finite buffers. A united reliability calculating framework is constructed for the multi-state production system based on universal generating function. A case study of a piston production line is conducted to prove the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed methodology.