Optimization and control of production operations utilizing mathematical flow models

Abstract

During recent years the phenomenal growth in size and complexity of our economy and our industrial organizations has brought about an intense need for improved techniques of management and control of production operations. The foremost method presently in use for controlling production costs is the Standard Cost System; however, this paper proposes a new technique which overcomes most of the shortcomings of the Standard Cost System. The electrical engineer for years has been utilizing methods which establish mathematical expressions for the components and their interactions within highly complex electronic systems. The concept of "transfer functions" and block diagram flow has been especially useful for solving problems in servomechanism (feedback control) systems. Since these methods have been found to be so highly successful in the analysis of electronic systems, their use is now extended to the analysis of less technical but just as complex production problems. The analysis of the cost contributed by each stage of a production process is often complicated by interaction between the various stages. In an attempt to determine these costs, mathematical models are developed which decompose the system into a series of small components which are analyzed separately, then by appropriately combining the effects of the components the response of the system is obtained. ...