A simulation model is used to investigate the impact of increased parts commonality on the operating characteristics of a manufacturing firm using MRP. To enable increased generalization about commonality, its impact is studied under a variety of environmental conditions. These conditions are defined by operational factors which manipulate end item demand patterns, setup time, lot sizing method, and the degree to which overall plant processing requirements are disaggregated and allocated to separate work centers. The manufacturing performance measures used, such as average processing time and standard deviation of processing time, focus on capacity requirements. A new measure, system disruption, is introduced. This measure focuses attention on the resource reallocation which may be required with the institution of increased commonality. The results demonstrate that increased commonality can in some cases lead to the beneficial effect of a sizable reduction in average processing time without necessarily being accompanied by an increase in workload variability. The results also show that it is very important to consider the impact of increased commonality on an individual work center basis as well as on the plant-wide basis, since workload may be redistributed from work center to work center by the institution of commonality. Previous commonality studies have generally shown that increased commonality will usually lead to the detrimental effect of an increase in period to period workload variability. This study demonstrates that such is not always the case. In fact, a strategic institution of commonality in order to totally eliminate the processing requirements for certain work centers may actually allow a decrease in workload variability.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/186011 |
| Date | January 1992 |
| Creators | Parmenter, David Alan |
| Contributors | Aquilano, Nicholas J., Sanchez, Susan, Vakharia, Asoo |
| Publisher | The University of Arizona. |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. |
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