An adaptive tabu search approach for buffer allocation problem in unreliable production lines

The buffer allocation problem, i.e. how much buffer storage to allow and where to place it within the line, is an important research issue in designing production lines. In this study, buffer allocation problem is solved for unreliable non-homogeneous production lines. The objective is to maximize the throughput of the line under buffer capacity constraints. To evaluate the throughput of the line the decomposition method is employed. An adaptive tabu search approach is proposed to optimize the buffer sizes for each location. The performance of the proposed approach is evaluated by the computational tests. © Izmir University of Economics, Turkey, 2010