Perturbation Analysis of Production Networks

This chapter treats the problem of evaluating the sensitivity of performance measures to changes in system parameters for a class of stochastic models. The technique presented, called perturbation analysis, evaluates sensitivities from sample paths, based either on a simulation or on real data.The chapter begins with an overview, based on a single-machine model. It proceeds to address underlying theoretical issues and then examines a variety of examples of production networks. It concludes with a discussion of issues arising in the estimation of steady-state sensitivities.