System reliability evaluation for a multi-state manufacturing network considering finite buffer capacity

This paper addresses the system reliability evaluation for a multi-state manufacturing network (MMN), where the system reliability is defined as probability of demand satisfaction. To avoid the MMN from blocking and starving, we consider a buffer station with finite capacity previous to the bottleneck workstation. We first generate the minimal capacity vector that workstations should provide to satisfy demand. Subsequently, the 'out-and-in matrix' is proposed to calculate the capacity usage of a buffer station and thus we may evaluate the buffer reliability. In terms of the minimal capacity vector and buffer reliability, the system reliability can be derived. Experimental results show that the system reliability will be decreased with finite buffer capacity than with infinite buffer capacity.