Hybrid push pull production control strategy simulation and its applications

In order to test the performance of the hybrid push/pull production control strategy proposed by Hodgson and Wang, a strategy simulation software for now-shop manufacturing systems was developed. It uses a structure model to describe the manufacturing and assembling processes of any production line. By using the model, the material flow controlled by different strategies can be simulated by different description equations. Simulation results have demonstrated that the recommended hybrid push/pull strategy is still the best one of all strategies for general mass product manufacturing systems. This software also was used to analyse the control strategy of a practical production line. Satisfactory results have been achieved from this analysis.