Modeling of Workflow Congestion and Optimization of Flow Routing in a Manufacturing/Warehouse Facility

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Zhang, Min; Batta, Rajan; Nagi, Rakesh
• 署名单位: State University of New York (SUNY) System; University at Buffalo, SUNY
• 刊物名称: MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0025-1909
• DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.1080.0916
• 发表日期: 2009
• 页码: 267-280
• 关键词: facility design; workflow congestion

摘要

This paper discusses the notion of work flow congestion in the context of material handling equipment interruptions in a manufacturing or warehousing facility. Development of a combination of probabilistic and physics-based models for workflow interruptions permits evaluation of the expected link travel time. The problem is then of routing in a way that minimizes total expected travel time. The rerouting problem is modeled as a multicommodity flow problem with link capacity design. A greedy upper bounding and Lagrangean relaxation algorithm are developed to solve this efficiently. To calibrate our modeling process we develop an object-oriented simulation model that explicitly considers various workflow interruptions. Our major finding is that rerouting traffic in a congested facility can significantly alleviate congestion delays and improve the efficiency of material movement. A managerial insight derived from this work is that rerouting is most effective in medium traffic-intensity situations.