| Just-in-time systems have received considerable attention in the modern manufacturing environment due to some basic concepts of waste reduction and quality improvements. The pull nature of this system has been compared extensively to conventional push systems. Another type of system, long pull, combines both push and pull concepts. The objective of this research is to model and provide a comprehensive analysis of push, pull and long pull systems. The role of these systems on work-in-process inventories and throughput is investigated through simulation runs for the models developed using the simulation package DYNAMO (PC version). Also, some key observations related to the allocation, span of control and the associated levels of work-in-process inventories of the long pull have been given. Further, application of the models have been extended to analyze a local spark plug assembly plant. Problems encountered by the plant have been identified and accordingly, various policies were developed. |
