Buffer Stock Allocation in Serial and Assembly Type of Production Lines

The literature is reviewed on buffer stock allocation strategies in serial production lines. A number of experiments are conducted to analyse the behaviour of work‐in‐process inventory given that the objective is to maximise throughput. Both balanced and unbalanced lines are examined. The same analysis will be repeated for assembly type of production lines (merging lines). A key concept in this article is the “long pull” (or constant work‐in‐process inventory) Kanban system.