Performance analysis of a serial production line with machine breakdowns

In this paper we estimate the stationary distribution of an open tandem queueing network with blocking. The open tandem queueing network, referred to as a serial production line, consists of machines and buffers. Between any two subsequent machines there is a buffer, and between any two subsequent buffers there is a machine. We present an approach that uses reduction of Markov chains in order to estimate the stationary distribution of a tandem queueing network with blocking.