Complexity and chaos in manufacturing systems
Abstract
The concept of complexity has been intuitively understood by manufacturing system designers and planners, and qualitatively discussed in systems analysis literature. This research formalizes the notion of decision making complexity in manufacturing systems and suggests methods of controlling system complexity, in order to improve system performance. In this thesis, static, dynamic, and control complexities are defined in manufacturing systems context. The behavior of static complexity is studied with respect to different system parameters. The relation between static complexity and system performance is discussed. Dynamic behavior of manufacturing systems is studied under different sequencing policies. Different methods of inducing periodic behavior in the output of manufacturing workcenters are discussed. A control scheme is proposed for generating periodic outputs in manufacturing workcenters. The emphasis of this research is on providing an understanding of system complexity, which can be used in making design, planning, and control decisions, such that manufacturing system performance is improved.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Talavage, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Industrial engineering
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