A comparative simulation study of manufacturing resource planning, just-in-time and theory of constraints in VAT classified flow shops facing smooth and lumpy demand

Three production planning and control methods currently vie for supremacy in realworld industrial application. One of the production planning and control methods in question is Manufacturing Resource Planning, which is founded upon the logic of its predecessor, Material Requirements Planning. The other two production planning and control methods concerned are Just-In-Time and Theory Of Constraints.

Each one of these production planning and control methods purports to endow a production manager with a comprehensive conceptual framework for the planning and control of his or her industrial operations. The question of whether one of the three production planning and control methods mentioned is superior to the others is by logical extension a valid and important one for a research undertaking.

Two previous simulation studies compare the performance of the three aforementioned production planning and control methods. One study was conducted by Fogarty, Blackstone, and Hoffmann (1991), and the more recent study was undertaken by Cook (1994). Both simulation studies contrast the three production planning and control methods in an "I" classified flow shop, which is characterized by a single production path.

This dissertation compares the performance of the production planning and control methods referred to in flow shops with a more complex layout, known as "V" "A" and "T" classified flow shops, respectively, in accordance with the shape of their layout. It designs and constructs three simulation models, one to represent each of these three flow shop classifications. Each simulation model is run under each of the mentioned production planning and control methods, to satisfy either a smooth or a lumpy demand profile, and at four different total material buffer capacity levels.