Performance opportunity for workforce agility in collaborative and noncollaborative work systems

摘要: To gain insight into the potential logistical benefits of worker cross-training and agile workforce policies, we study simple models flexible workers in serial production systems. The primary control issue is how to assign jobs/stations over time. Under assumptions complete flexibility collaborative work, prove that a expedite policy minimizes along each sample path cycle time (delay) for job. Therefore, also work process maximizes throughput every path. We compute performance improvement opportunity achievable using as opposed optimal static allocation workers. This enables us examine factors make agility potentially attractive strategy. consider intuitive analog noncollaborative environment, which call pick-and-run policy; however, demonstrate by counterexample it not always optimal. Finally, extend some our insights from demand-constrained environment capacity-constrained operating under CONstant WIP (CONWIP) protocol.