One approach that can be effective in reducing the impact of production bottlenecks in a job shop…

One approach that can be effective in reducing the impact of production bottlenecks in a job shop or batch operations setting is to use smaller lot sizes.

a. What is the impact of a production bottleneck?

b. Explain how small lot sizes can reduce the impact of bottleneck operations.

c. What are the key trade-offs in using small lot sizes for the purpose of reducing the bottleneck effect?

d. In some cases, the location of a bottleneck will shift (i.e., sometimes it is at workstation 3, another time it is at workstation 12). Furthermore, there can be more than one bottleneck operation at the same time. How would these situations impact scheduling using small lot sizes?