When multi-products are produced in flow shop lines, the various network lines are designed which include a series main line, parallel sublines, merge sublines and branches sublines. In this paper we consider the two-stage series line with a branched subline and analyze the effects of the operation rate and the buffer storage capacity of the subline on the production rate. In this line, stage 1 produces the common semifinished products, but the main line and the subline produce the different products. Furthermore, we analyze the difference between the two buffer storage allocation methods.
View full abstract