LEDS-Level track. The full model: real failure modes, unit conversion, and inline buffers. The buffers change nothing, and a live sweep shows how completely.
At a glance
| Experiment | Multi Run |
| Duration | 90 days |
| System efficiency | 54.3% |
| Production | 70,361 pallets |
| Output unit | pallets |
What this model is
Everything at once — LEDS-level failure modes, bottle-to-pallet conversion, and inline buffers between stages. The most complete of the eight, and the closest to how a real line would be modelled.
The line
| Node | Name |
|---|---|
c0 |
Capper |
c1 |
Labeler |
n0 |
Filler |
n1 |
Case Packer |
n2 |
Palletizer |
The interrupts
36 named failure modes, distributed across the line:
| Machine | Failure modes |
|---|---|
| Capper | 12 — Micro Stop, Upper Plow Area, Capper, Compression, and 8 more |
| Case Packer | 2 — Photo Eye, Case Packer |
| Labeler | 3 — Labeler, Label Placement, Misalignment |
| Filler | 7 — Filler, Silo to Weigh Hopper, Mix to Bulk Bin, Bulk to Filler Bin, and 3 more |
| Palletizer | 12 — Hoist Area, Palletizer, Slat Sorter, Film_Break, and 8 more |
Each carries its own time-to-failure and time-to-repair distribution, fitted per mode. Click a node in the sandbox to see them.
Buffers cannot fix a constraint that is down
System efficiency is unchanged from the same model without buffers. The Capper is limited by its own internal downtime, not by waiting on a neighbour, so decoupling it from its neighbours changes nothing.
This is a useful negative result. Buffer capacity costs floor space, working capital and — on a food line — shelf life. Knowing when it will not pay is worth as much as knowing when it will.
What the run produced
- Bottleneck operating availability: 75.4%
- System OEE: 54.3%
- Bottleneck total downtime: 382.7 hours across 15,705 events
- Mean time between failures: 4.5 min · Mean time to recover: 1.5 min
- Throughput: 70,361 pallets
- Blocked or starved: 604.6 hours (28.0%)
Top contributors (Capper)
| Rank | Interrupt | Downtime | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Capper_Upper Plow Area | 206.4 hrs | 53.9% |
| 2 | Capper_Picker Tree Assembly | 57.9 hrs | 15.1% |
| 3 | Capper_Lower Plow Area | 22.8 hrs | 5.9% |
| 4 | Capper_Glue Station | 20.6 hrs | 5.4% |
| 5 | Capper_Carton Magazine | 18.5 hrs | 4.8% |
Run it yourself
What 80× more buffer actually buys
A live sweep run against the engine now — seven runs, 90 simulated days each, all three inline buffers set to the same capacity. Separate from the recorded figures above.
pallets producedheld in the buffers at the end of the run
Output is identical at every buffer size. The rising amber bar is not production — it is material sitting in the buffers when the run ended, and it scales exactly with capacity. Eighty times the buffer, eighty times the work in progress, and not one extra unit out of the door.
This is a live run and its figures are its own; the recorded results above come from a separate transcription and the two are not expected to match digit for digit.
Where to go next
Compare against the rolled-up view: Adding Inline Buffers on the Constraint-Level track.
Open it
This model ships with ReliaSim® and runs in the browser sandbox — no install required. Open + Buffer Options in the sandbox.
Every recorded figure on this page is the published result for the model as it ships.