Abstract

HERNANDEZ-GONZALEZ, Salvador; FLORES DE LA MOTA, Idalia; JIMENEZ-GARCIA, José Alfredo  and  HERNANDEZ-RIPALDA, Manuel Darío. Numerical analysis of minimum cost network flow with queuing stations: the M/M/1 case. Nova scientia [online]. 2017, vol.9, n.18, pp.257-289. ISSN 2007-0705.  https://doi.org/10.21640/ns.v9i18.840.

In a network the nodes represent stations, warehouses, distribution centers and customers and not just materials but also information circulate, so the minimum cost flow model, that only takes transport costs into account is one of the tools used to support the decision-making. In reality, the nodes provide a service which requires a service time, the servicing follows a discipline and also a queue is formed, generating the respective service and queuing costs. A modified version of the minimum cost flow model is proposed in this paper for the optimization of the flow in a queuing network. A variety of cases were solved. An acceptable level of accuracy was observed in the calculation of the time cycle and work in progress. The results indicate that the optimum solution tends to balance the workload along the network. This paper is of interest to administrators and people in charge of supply chains and is useful for decision-making in the medium or long time.

Keywords : network flow; supply chain; queueing networks; cycle time; work in process.