Production Systems Engineering for

Factory Floor Management

Lecture 4: BOTTLENECK IDENTIFICATION
AND ELIMINATION

Semyon M. Meerkov, University of Michigan
J ingshan Li, University of Wisconsin Madison
Liang Zhang, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee





Copyright J . Li, S.M. Meerkov and L. Zhang 2012
Outline
4.1. Introduction
4.2. What is the bottleneck machine?
4.3. What is the bottleneck buffer?
4.4. Identification of BN-m and BN-b in serial lines
4.5. Identification of BN-m and BN-b in assembly systems
4.6. Potency of buffering
4.7. Designing continuous improvement projects
4.8. Measurement-based management
4.9. Case studies
4.10. Summary
4.11. Lab: PSE Toolbox function for BN-m and BN-b identification
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Due to breakdowns and other perturbations, it is not
uncommon that machining lines operate at 60%-70% of their
capacity.
In assembly systems, these numbers are 80%-90%.
Therefore, continuous improvement is of central importance.
4.1. Introduction
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In practice, continuous improvement projects (i.e., improving
machines and buffers or purchasing new ones) are often
designed without a rigorous justification. As a result, many
continuous improvement projects do not measure up to
expectations.
The goal of this lecture is to present quantitative engineering
methods for designing continuous improvement projects with
rigorously predicted results.
The approach developed here is based on identification and
elimination of bottleneck machines and bottleneck buffers.
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4.2. What is the Bottleneck Machine?
Often, the worst machine is isolation is viewed as the bottleneck
machine.
This understanding is wrong because it is local in nature and
does not look at the system as a whole.
We define the bottleneck as the machine that affects the overall
system performance in the strongest manner.
To quantify this understanding, we introduce the following
definition:
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Definition:
m
i
, i {1,, M}, is the bottleneck machine (BN-m) in a
Bernoulli line if


m
i
, i {1,, M}, is the c-bottleneck (c-BN) in a
line with continuous time models of machine reliability if



for all ;
i j
PR PR
j i
p p

>

for all .
i j
TP TP
j i
c c

>

i
i
j
j
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(c) Machine with the smallest capacity is not the c-bottleneck
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cannot be measured on the factory floor

during normal system operation.
Also, they cannot be evaluated analytically.
So, how the BN-m can be identified?


or
i i
PR TP
p c


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4.3. What is the Bottleneck Buffer?
Definition: b
i
, i {1,, M 1}, is the bottleneck buffer (BN-b)
if

The smallest buffer is not necessarily BN-b:




How the BN-b can be identified?

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4.4. Identification of BN-m and BN-b in Serial Lines
It turns out that BN-m (or c-BN) and BN-b can be identified using
blockages and starvations of the machines.
Specifically, consider a production line and determine (either by
measurements on the factory floor or by calculations) the probabilities
(or frequencies) of blockage and starvation of each machine.
Place BL
i
and ST
i
under each machine as follows:
ST
i
0 0.01 0.39 0.37 0.27

BL
i
0.41 0.20 0.27 0.01 0
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Assign arrows from one machine to another according to the
following rule: If BL
i
>ST
i+1
, assign the arrow pointing from m
i
to
m
i+1
. If BL
i
<ST
i+1
, assign the arrow pointing from m
i+1
to m
i
.



ST
i
0 0.01 0.39 0.37 0.27

BL
i
0.41 0.20 0.27 0.01 0
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Bottleneck Indicator:
The machine with no emanating arrows is the BN-m (or c-BN).
If there are multiple machines with no emanating arrows, the one with
the largest severity is the Primary BN-m (Pc-BN), where the severity
of each local bottleneck is defined as follows:



BN-b is one of the buffer surrounding the BN-m (or c-BN); it is before
BN-m if ST
i
>BL
i
; it is after BN-m if ST
i
<BL
i
.
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4.5. Identification of BN-m and BN-b in Assembly Systems
The definitions for BN-m and BN-b remain the same.
The arrow assignment rule also remains the same, with the only
difference that the merge operation may be starved by multiple
component lines.
Given this arrow assignment, the Bottleneck Indicator remains the
same as in serial lines.
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4.6. Potency of Buffering
Definition: The buffering of a production system is:
weakly potent if the BN-m is the worst machine in the
system (i.e., the machine with the smallest throughput in
isolation); otherwise, it is not potent;
potent if it is weakly potent and its production rate is
sufficiently close to the BN-m efficiency (e.g., within 5% of
the BN machine efficiency);
strongly potent if it is potent and the total buffer capacity is
the smallest possible to ensure the desired throughput).

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To determine if the buffering is weakly potent, the methods
introduced in this lecture may be used.
To determine if it is potent, the methods introduced in Lecture
3 may be used.
To determine if it is strongly potent, the methods introduced in
Lecture 5 may be used.



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Along with its practical utility, the notion of buffering potency
is important conceptually.
Indeed, typically, production supervisors concentrate their
attention on the machines their reliability, efficiency,
capacity, etc.
Attention to buffering is often missing, although the buffers
are also important for system operation.
The notion of buffering potency provides a language necessary
to focus attention on the buffers.

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4.7. Designing Continuous Improvement Projects
4.8. Measurement-Based Management
The process of continuous improvement requires a
mathematical model of the system at hand.
This may be difficult to obtain (especially for large systems).
Therefore, a simpler method, referred to as MBM, is proposed.
It consists of the steps described next.

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Examples of the first step can be given as follows:

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The second step can be carried out based on measuring the
blockages and starvations and using the expressions:




Thus, to carry out MBM, the manager must receive daily, or
weekly information of the time of blockages and starvation of
various units.
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The third step is carried using the arrow-based method of BN
identification:





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The last step is up to the manager and his/her staff to
determine which actions should be taken to eliminate the BN.
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4.9. Case Studies
4.9.1. Automotive ignition coil processing system
Bottleneck identification:





Improving m9-10 by 10% and b
9-10
by 1 leads to TP =505 parts/hour
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Bottlenecks of the improved system:





Increasing b
5
by 1 leads to TP =511 parts/hour an acceptable
performance.

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Bottleneck identification:





The main reason for m
3
to be the bottleneck is starvation by
empty carriers. Assuming the empty carriers are always
available, we obtain
4.9.2. Automotive paint shop production system
Bottlenecks of the improved system:







Increasing efficiency of m
3
by 4% leads to


and machine m
4
becomes the new bottleneck.
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4.9.3. Automotive ignition module assembly system
Conclusion: MHS is not potent.
Increasing capacity of all buffers:
Increasing capacity of buffer conveyor: over 9% TP
improvement.
Eliminating starvations of Op.1 and Op.9 and blockage of Op.18:




Last two actions have been implemented.
4.10. Summary
In the same manner a medical doctor cannot treat patients
without taking their vital signs, production systems cannot be
managed without appropriate measurements.
This lecture shows that the most important vital signs of a
production system are blockages and starvations.
Based on this information, managers can exercise MBM a
rigorous way for achieving good performance of production
systems.

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4.11. Lab: PSE Toolbox Function for BN-m and
BN-b Identification
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BN-m and BN-b in serial lines with Bernoulli machines
Input:
M, number of machines
p, reliability of each machine
N, capacity of each buffer
Output:
BN-m and BN-b
Production rate (PR)
Work-in-process (WIP)
Probability of starvation (ST)
Probability of blockage (BL)
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BN-m and BN-b in serial lines with exponential machines
Input:
M, number of machines
, failure rate of each machine
, repair rate of each machine
c, speed of each machine
N, capacity of each in-process buffer
Output:
Throughput (TP)
Work-in-process (WIP)
Probabilities of starvation (ST) and blockage (BL)
Machine efficiency (e)
BN-m and BN-b.
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BN-m and BN-b in serial lines with general model of
machine reliability

Input:
M, number of machines
T
up
, average uptime of each machine
T
down
, average downtime of each machine

Output:
Probabilities of starvation (ST) and blockage (BL)
BN-m and BN-b.

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BN in assembly systems with Bernoulli machines
Input:
M
0
, M
1
, M
2
, number of machines in assembly line, component line 1
and component line 2, respectively
p
0
, p
1
, p
2
, Bernoulli reliability of each machine
N
0
, N
1
, N
2
, capacity of each buffer
Output:
Production rate (PR)
Probability of starvation (ST)
Probability of blockage (BL)
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