The throughput rate of multistation unreliable production lines (Q1261338)

The authors consider unreliable multistation series production line such that the first station is never starved and the last station is never blocked. Erlang type distribution is assumed for processing times of each station and for the repair times of the stations. Time to failure of the station is assumed to be exponential. Buffers of nonidentical capacities are allowed between successive stations. The authors present a methodology for generating the associated set of linear equations. The system is solved by the use of successive over-relaxation method (SOR). Some restrictions on the size of the system appear because the technique involves SOR. A comparison between the exact results obtained by the authors and approximate results given in the literature is made.