A-B Control

A way to regulate the working relationships between two machines or operations to control overproduction and ensure balanced use of resources.

In the Illustration, neither of the machines nor the conveyor will cycle unless three conditions are met: Machine A is full, the conveyor contains the standard amount of work-in-process (in this case, one piece), and Machine B is empty. When those conditions are met, all three will cycle once and wait until the conditions are met again.