Paced Coupled Lines

• Parts (jobs) reside at stations for a fixed amount of time, after which the line cycles and jobs move to the next station.
• Whenever a machine fails, all work immediately stops at every station.
• Continuous flow processes (e.g., oil refineries, food processing lines) tend to look like paced coupled lines.

 
• Example: An example that behaves like this line.

 
• Principles: The following principle applies to coupled lines, whether they are paced or unpaced.
 
Principle (Availability): Line availability is equal to the product of the individual station availabilities.