Abstract: Abstract: Drum-Buffer-Ropel(DBR) approach is the management tool for the TOC applied to a production system. The size of the buffers in DBR has a great impact on the lead time and system throughput, thus ultimately affects the competitive edge of products. In a remanufacturing system, there are some uncertainties that influence the whole system throughput. Considering the effects of machine failure rate, the maintenance rate, and the uncertainty of the recovery products’ quality, based on the DBR theory, a complete remanufacturing buffer model control mechanism is established to solve the uncertainties existing in the remanufacturing system. Finally, a calculated example proves that three kinds of buffer designed by the method can effectively arrange the production planning and improve the resource utilization of the bottleneck operation.

Key words: DBR, bottleneck buffer, re-entrant buffer, shipping buffer, remanufacturing system