Simulation analysis of the performance of tunnel-gated stations for free-transfer assembly systems

Recently, a special form of parallel workstation known as a tunnel-gated station was developed to improve the performance of an automatic assembly system. This paper discusses the effects of different design factors on the performance of automatic assembly systems with tunnel-gated stations. These factors include: (1) the jam probability of the stations, (2) the repair time of the stations, (3) the balance of the line, (4) the buffer size between adjacent stations, and (5) the position of the tunnel-gated station in the combined buffer. A simulation model which includes transport delays associated with the transfer line is developed to study these factors. This paper attempts to provide general understanding into the significance of these different factors by presenting the analysis of a factorial experiment design based on the discrete event simulation results. © 1986.