This paper deals with a manufacturing system consisting of a single machine subject to random failures and repairs. The machine can produce two types of parts. When the production is switched from one part type to the other a random setup time is incurred at a constant cost rate. The objective...

Strategies for constructing a Markov decision chain approximating a continuous-time finite-horizon optimal control problem are investigated. Some simple, analytically soluble, examples are treated and low computational complexity is reported. Extensions to the method and implementation are...