Production optimization by agents of differing work rates

Abstract

We devise a scheme for producing, in the least possible time, $n$ identical objects with $p$ agents that work at differing speeds. This involves halting the process in order to transfer production across agent types. For the case of two types of agent, we construct a scheme based on the Euclidean algorithm that seeks to minimise the number of pauses in production.

23 pages, 2 figures