Determining transfer barch sizes to minimize work-in-process in manufacturing systems

Trip-based material handling systems such as AGV systems, lift trucks, etc. are often designed with a given flow matrix (or FROM-TO chart) which is usually treated as the number of loaded trips that the devices must perform per unit time between the stations. In reality, the number of trips that would result from parts flow in a facility is dictated by the transfer batch size, i.e., the number of parts that are transferred from one station to the next in one trip. In this paper, we present analytical and simulation results aimed at determining optimal or near-optimal transfer batch sizes in manufacturing systems.