An analysis of line-stop strategy in just-in-time manufacturing

In pursuit of zero-defect quality, a growing number of JIT manufacturing firms often consider a line-stop strategy that allows workers to stop the assembly line when abnormalities occur during production process, and to repair defects immediately as they occur. The line-stop strategy contrasts with a traditional off-line repair strategy that either scraps the defects or sends them to a separate repair station. Develops an expected total cost model to demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of the line-stop strategy over the off-line repair strategy in JIT environments. Computational experiments indicate that cost savings resulting forum using the line-stop strategy are greater than those using the offline repair strategy.