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Asynchronous Closed Lines - Example

A Transmission Assembly Line

A transmission assembly line, in which transmissions are assembled on pallets that circulate around an oval shaped line acts like a closed (CONWIP) line.  The extent to which it looks like an infinite buffer closed line, depends on whether blocking is a significant factor.  If upstream stations can continue working until they become starved when a downstream station fails (because there is space to put completed work downstream or because the operators can physically move upstream to get away from blocked jobs sitting on the line), then it is essentially an infinite buffer line.  If, because there is limited space between stations, it is possible for a station to become blocked by a downstream station failure, then the line is a finite buffer closed line.
 

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