Selecting a suitable production control policy is a challenging task for managers becausethe superiority of one control over the other is controversial. This book analyzespull production systems and provides a guideline to choose and implement a propercontrol policy in production processes. By employing a proper control policy themaximum possible throughput of the production system can be achieved with theminimum work-in-process inventory. Kanban, CONWIP, and base-stock as wellknownpull control policies are analyzed and analytical comparisons among themin multistage serial and assembly production processes are presented. Illustrated bycarefully chosen examples and supported by analytical solutions, discussions providedin the book clarify the complexity of the comparisons that show there is no general superiorityamong the control systems. Th e book explains which structural parametersdecide the superiority of one control scheme to the others, and how they are related.Given a confi guration of parameters, such as processing times and number of cardsemployed in the system, the superior control policy can be selected.