A Decomposition Approximation for Periodic Kanban‐Controlled Flow Shops*

The kanban system is a pull method of production control in which the material‐handling operation between two stations is initiated by the downstream station. Most often, because of limited transportation resources, the physical distance separating workstations, or other factors, the material‐handling operation is performed periodically. The number of withdrawal kanbans must be set large enough to satisfy production requirements over the period between occurrences of the material‐handling operation‐the withdrawal cycle time. This paper presents a decomposition approximation for kanban‐controlled flow shops that explicitly considers the withdrawal cycle time. Several examples are given to show how the approximation method can be used to determine the required number of kanbans, the required withdrawal cycle time, or both.