Manufacturing Complexity – How External Complexity Influences the Effects of Internal Complexity

This effort extends our previous research into the elements of the design of manufacturing systems and seeks to separate the effects for the internal elements (those due to system design) from the basic elements of external complexityorder variation (frequency and size). Simulation experiments were conducted that included two levels of the external complexity to determine the significance and effect of ten elements of complexity resulting from managerial decisions relative to the design of the manufacturing system. The results show that the external complexity elements dominate the cause of system unpredictability. We also confirm the findings from our previous research while discovering the difference in effects of the internal complexity factors based upon the amount of variation in the order arrival rate.