Abstract The present paper is aimed at showing, through a simulative approach, that the adoption of a suitable dispatching rule allows to improve the single-loop CONstant Work In Process (CONWIP) control mechanism within Make To Order (MTO) production systems, balancing the workload among the workstations, reaching a performance level that outperforms standard CONWIP and leans towards that of the corresponding m-CONWIP system. The benefits that may derive from the adoption of a single-loop CONWIP for the design/management of production systems are obvious, being true that (i) m-CONWIP systems are complex to design and optimize, (ii) the single-loop CONWIP systems can be designed with simpler approaches and that (iii) single-loop CONWIP systems remain easier to manage than the m-CONWIP systems. Thus, the well-known Work In Next Queue (WINQ) rule has been adjusted and used within a single-loop CONWIP model, to guarantee that items are favored within those routings for which higher capacity is available in the succeeding work centers. Its performance has been then compared respectively to that of the standard, FIFO-based, CONWIP system and that of an extremely efficient m-CONWIP system. It is known that the workload balancing capability of pull systems not only depends on the configuration of the system itself. It is also subjected to the variability in the order arrival pattern and of the processing times. These parameters have been therefore opportunely considered. Also, the number of available cards represents, along with the loading rule, the most important control parameter. It can be easily determined both in the standard and the WINQ-based CONWIP, whereas it represents a significant issue within the m-CONWIP systems. Thus, to optimize the number of cards within the m-CONWIP model a Genetic Algorithm (GA) has been opportunely configured.

中文翻译：

---

在下一个队列中工作 CONWIP

摘要 本文旨在通过模拟方法表明，采用合适的调度规则可以改进按订单生产 (MTO) 生产系统中的单循环持续在制品 (CONWIP) 控制机制，平衡工作站之间的工作负载，达到优于标准 CONWIP 并倾向于相应 m-CONWIP 系统的性能水平。在生产系统的设计/管理中采用单回路 CONWIP 可能带来的好处是显而易见的，因为 (i) m-CONWIP 系统设计和优化很复杂，(ii) 单回路 CONWIP系统可以用更简单的方法设计，并且 (iii) 单回路 CONWIP 系统比 m-CONWIP 系统更易于管理。因此，众所周知的下一个队列工作 (WINQ) 规则已在单循环 CONWIP 模型中进行了调整和使用，以确保在后续工作中心具有更高产能的工艺路线中优先考虑项目。然后将其性能分别与基于 FIFO 的标准 CONWIP 系统和极其高效的 m-CONWIP 系统进行比较。众所周知，拉动系统的工作负载均衡能力不仅取决于系统本身的配置。它还受到订单到达模式和处理时间的可变性的影响。因此，这些参数已被恰如其分地考虑在内。此外，可用卡的数量与加载规则一起代表最重要的控制参数。它可以很容易地在标准和基于 WINQ 的 CONWIP 中确定，而它代表 m-CONWIP 系统中的一个重要问题。因此，为了优化 m-CONWIP 模型中的卡片数量，我们恰当地配置了遗传算法 (GA)。