Study on Quantity of Handling Robot Base on Queuing Theory

The quantity of handling robot (HR) required for effective handling of products among facilities are discused. In the first step, a preliminary solution is obtained by considering the time required for loading and unloading of products, loaded travelling, emptytravelling and breakdown of HR. A detailed model, which integrates both operational and cost performance factors such as utilisation of HR, work-in-process at the HR and life-cycle cost, is then utilised to rank alternatives that are generated from the preliminary solution. The stochastic nature of a manufacturing system, is best modelled using queuing theory. The influence of various other factors including the operational characteristics of processing facilities, layout design, maintenance function, HR speed and batch size in selection of the quantity of HR is also demonstrated.