Partitioning Work Centers for Group Technology: Insights from an Analytical Model*

This paper develops analytical approximations based on an M/M/c queuing model, for the operating characteristics of job shop work centers. The model is used to analyze the effects of partitioning a work center and introducing setup reduction into the cell components. The results using this model are shown to be consistent with the results of prior simulation‐based studies of group technology under certain parameter ranges. A simulation experiment was conducted to verify the effects with multi‐item, non‐Markovian assumptions, and the general effects predicted by the model were found to apply.