An Exact Method for the Analysis of a Two-Machine Manufacturing System with a Finite Buffer Subject to Time-Dependent Failure

This paper presents an efficient exact analytical method for evaluating the performance of a two-machine manufacturing system with a finite buffer. Unlike existing work, it is assumed that the buffer is prone to time-dependent failure, that is, failure that can occur even when the buffer is not working. First, Markov model is established for the system. Then transition equations are derived based on the system state analysis. After that, a solution technique is provided to obtain the results. Finally, numerical cases are carried out to explore the internal laws of the system. The relationships between system parameters and system performance are investigated. Furthermore, the difference between buffer subject to time-dependent failure and buffer subject to operation-dependent failure is discussed. The proposed method is the building block of approximate analytical methods which can greatly improve the accuracy when analyzing long systems.