AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF

Abstract approved: The optimal allocation of buffers in serial production systems is one of the oldest and most researched problems in Industrial Engineering. In general, there are three main approaches to the buffer allocation problem when the objective is to maximize throughput. The first is basically a systematic trial and error procedure supported either by discrete event simulation or analytical models. A second approach is to allocate buffers based on general design rules that have been established in the research literature through experimentation. And the third approach is to apply a buffer allocation optimization algorithm to a specific production line. All these approaches have limitations and could be time and resource consuming. Additionally, most of the existing research on buffer allocation only considers production systems modeled with an infinite supply of raw materials before the first workstation and an unlimited capacity for finished goods after the last workstation. In reality many production systems are designed Redacted for Privac