Optimal buffer size control of serial production lines with quality inspection machines

In this paper, based on the performance analysis of serial production lines with quality inspection machines, we develope an buffer size optimization method to maximize the production rate. The total sum of buffer sizes are given and a constant, and under this constraint, using the linear approximation method, we suggest a closed form solution for the optimization problem with an acceptable error. Also, we show that the upstream and downstream buffers of the worst performance machine have a significant effect on the production rate. Finally, the suggested methods are validated by simulations.