Mitigating the Effects of Manpower Reductions at a Central Issue Facility by Improving the Allocation of Servers: A Simulation Study

Author

Michael K. Garrity
Christopher J. Wicker

Date of Award

9-1994

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to determine a preferred server allocation and a preferred customer batch size for processing customers at an Army Central Issue Facility CIF under various manpower levels. The CIF is a retail warehouse which issues tactical clothing and equipment to individual soldiers. It is facing potential manpower reductions from the current level of 19 servers. The CIF exhibits flow shop characteristics. An assembly line balancing approach was used with the objective of reducing the customers average time-in-system. Five server allocation heuristics and three customer batch sizes were examined. The evaluation tool was a computer simulation using data from a time-motion study. Results indicate that customer batch size has a greater effect-on a customers average time-in-system than server allocation heuristic. In this study a batch size of seven resulted in lower average times-in-system than did a batch size of one or twenty-one. Manpower utilization, Computer simulation, Production engineering, Models, Productivity.

AFIT Designator

AFIT-GLM-LAL-94S-19

DTIC Accession Number

ADA285270

Comments

Co-authored thesis.

The authors' Vita pages are omitted.

Presented to the Faculty of the School of Logistics and Acquisition Management of the Air Force Institute of Technology.

Recommended Citation

Garrity, Michael K. and Wicker, Christopher J., "Mitigating the Effects of Manpower Reductions at a Central Issue Facility by Improving the Allocation of Servers: A Simulation Study" (1994). Theses and Dissertations. 6835.
https://scholar.afit.edu/etd/6835