Asynchronous Open Lines - Improvement Strategies
As in the case of closed lines, when the performance of a line falls below the practical worst case, there is typically considerable room for improvement. The main strategies roughly in the order of impact are:
Note, that in a closed system implementing any of the above will result in an increase in the throughput of the line. But in an open system, throughput is fixed by the release rate. Therefore, these improvement policies will reduce WIP and flow time, but unless the release rate is consciously changed, the throughput will remain constant. By selecting the release rate, the decision maker can choose to take advantage of the improvements either in the form of decreased WIP and flow time, increased throughput, or a combination of these. This is illustrated graphically in the discussions of the individual improvements.