A mathematical model for a buffered two-stage manufacturing cell with an unreliable transfer device

In this paper, a mathematical model is developed for a manufacturing cell of two manufacturing stages with a single-storage buffer and a transfer robot for loading, unloading and moving parts into and out of the buffer. Both stages and the transfer robot are subject to failure. The cell is modeled as a random Markov process on the assumption that time to failure and time to repair are exponentially distributed. The output of such manufacturing cell is established, and as expected, it is less than that where the transfer means are continuously available.