To gain insight into the potential logistical benefits of worker cross-training and agile workforce policies, we study simple models of serial production systems with flexible servers operating under a constant work-in-process (CONWIP) release policy. Two important and interrelated issues are:...

We model a CONWIP (CONstant Work-in-Process) production line with deterministic processing times and exponential failure and repair times as a closed queueing network. We derive an approximation for the mean and variance of the output during a specified interval and give computable conditions...

The terms pull and lean production have become cornerstones of modern manufacturing practice. However, although they are widely used, they are less widely understood. In this paper, we argue that while the academic literature has steadily revealed the richness of the pull/lean concepts, the...