A modular hybrid simulation framework for complex manufacturing system design

For complex manufacturing systems, the current hybrid Agent-Based Modelling and Discrete Event Simulation (ABM–DES) frameworks are limited to component and system levels of representation and present a degree of static complexity to study optimal resource planning. To address these limitations, a modular hybrid simulation framework for complex manufacturing system design is presented. A manufacturing system with highly regulated and manual handling processes, composed of multiple repeating modules, is considered. In this framework, the concept of modular hybrid ABM–DES technique is introduced to demonstrate a novel simulation method using a dynamic system of parallel multi-agent discrete events. In this context, to create a modular model, the stochastic finite dynamical system is extended to allow the description of discrete event states inside the agent for manufacturing repeating modules (meso level). Moreover, dynamic complexity regarding uncertain processing time and resources is considered. This framework guides the user step-by-step through the system design and modular hybrid model. A real case study in the cell and gene therapy industry is conducted to test the validity of the framework. The simulation results are compared against the data from the studied case; excellent agreement with 1.038% error margin is found in terms of the company performance. The optimal resource planning and the uncertainty of the processing time for manufacturing phases (exo level), in the presence of dynamic complexity is calculated

Improving productivity of road surfacing operations using value stream mapping and discrete event simulation

The Highways Infrastructure is one of the most valuable asset owned by the public sector. Efficient operations of Highways have the success of national and local economies as well as the quality of life of the general public, dependent on it. Ensuring smooth traffic operations requires maintenance and improvements of the highest standard. This research investigates integration of Discrete Event Simulation (DES) and Value Stream mapping (VSM) to enhance the productivity of the delivery of road surfacing operations by achieving higher production rates and minimum road closure times. Research approach involved use of primary data, collected from direct observation, interviews, review of archival records and productivity databases. Based on this, process maps and value stream maps were developed, which were subsequently used to produce discrete event simulation models, for exploration of different optimisation scenarios

Application of lean scheduling and production control in non-repetitive manufacturing systems using intelligent agent decision support

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Lean Manufacturing (LM) is widely accepted as a world-class manufacturing paradigm, its currency and superiority are manifested in numerous recent success stories. Most lean tools including Just-in-Time (JIT) were designed for repetitive serial production systems. This resulted in a substantial stream of research which dismissed a priori the suitability of LM for non-repetitive non-serial job-shops. The extension of LM into non-repetitive production systems is opposed on the basis of the sheer complexity of applying JIT pull production control in non-repetitive systems fabricating a high variety of products. However, the application of LM in job-shops is not unexplored. Studies proposing the extension of leanness into non-repetitive production systems have promoted the modification of pull control mechanisms or reconfiguration of job-shops into cellular manufacturing systems. This thesis sought to address the shortcomings of the aforementioned approaches. The contribution of this thesis to knowledge in the field of production and operations management is threefold: Firstly, a Multi-Agent System (MAS) is designed to directly apply pull production control to a good approximation of a real-life job-shop. The scale and complexity of the developed MAS prove that the application of pull production control in non-repetitive manufacturing systems is challenging, perplex and laborious. Secondly, the thesis examines three pull production control mechanisms namely, Kanban, Base Stock and Constant Work-in-Process (CONWIP) which it enhances so as to prevent system deadlocks, an issue largely unaddressed in the relevant literature. Having successfully tested the transferability of pull production control to non-repetitive manufacturing, the third contribution of this thesis is that it uses experimental and empirical data to examine the impact of pull production control on job-shop performance. The thesis identifies issues resulting from the application of pull control in job-shops which have implications for industry practice and concludes by outlining further research that can be undertaken in this direction

A case study of lean, sustainable manufacturing

A small furniture production company has integrated lean tools and sustainability concepts with discrete event simulation modeling and analysis as well as mathematical optimization to make a positive impact on the environment, society and its own financial success. The principles of lean manufacturing that aid in the elimination of waste have helped the company meet ever increasing customer demands while preserving valuable resources for future generations. The implementation of lean and sustainable manufacturing was aided by the use of discrete event simulation and optimization to overcome deficits in lean’s traditional implementation strategies. Lean and green manufacturing can have a more significant, positive impact on multiple measures of operational performance when implemented concurrently rather than separately. These ideas are demonstrated by three applicationsPeer Reviewe

Dmarc: A Framework For The Integration Of Dmaic And Dmadv

The Lean Six Sigma methodology is being applied extensively to tackle many quality related issues in many processes of today s industries. Various companies have benefited greatly from the adoption of Six Sigma and Lean engineering concepts since their introduction, and continue to do so. The DMAIC method that is traditionally adopted in the implementation of the Lean Six Sigma methodology has proven to yield cost saving results in most cases. Yet, industries have found that just improvement of existent process and products to reduce defects, does not quench the customer s growing thirst for greater quality. In order to tackle variation and defects pro actively, the initiative to achieve Six Sigma level of quality (3.4 DPMO) or greater is being infused into the design of new products using the Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) methodology, through systematic approaches such as DMADV. This research integrates the DMADV approach into the classic DMAIC methodology through a framework, DMARC, which details the improvement an existing process through re design. It provides a systematic approach to avoid the mis direction of projects into following the path of continued improvement of existing processes that are deemed to be beyond such efforts. A real life industrial case: a successfully completed Lean Six Sigma project, tackling the downtime of the Launch Pad Meteorological System at Launch Pads 39A and B at the Kennedy Space Center, was studied to exemplify the possibility of the achievement of greater results from the implementation of the DMARC framework

Identificação de barreiras na implementação de metodologias ágeis na indústria automóvel

The automotive sector is one of the major contributors for the worldwide economy, not being just a vital element in the economy of the industrialized countries, where motor vehicle production and sales are one of the major impellers of the economy in those countries, but also contributes to the growth of other related activities as metallurgy, plastic/rubber, electronics, textiles, etc. thus empowering the global industrialization. The increasing competitive pressure in the sector led to the “projectivization” of product development processes, through defined concepts and organizational frameworks. However, as projects have grown into more dynamic and complex, consequently the ways of managing them should be reconsidered. Agile Project Management emerged within the software industry, but its applicability is theoretically feasible to any industry. This approach despite permitting to meet the rapidly changing requirements through iterative development, and increasing the process efficiency, the companies also face barriers and challenges in its implementation. Although there is literary evidence of barriers observed in the implementation of Agile Methodologies in software development, there is a lack of bibliographic evidence of barriers observed in the manufacturing sector, and almost null in the Automotive Industry. This survey intended to address a literature gap, identifying barriers in the implementation of Agile Methodologies in the Automotive Industry through a questionnaire survey, categorizing them, and detecting their major source, as well as find possible enablers and recommendations to overcome the identified barriers. “Organizational”, and “Knowledge and technology” barriers were found, through the factor “Improper competency management”. It was corroborated the existence of “Institutional” barriers, through the factor “Change predisposition”, and its correlation with the “No obligation” barrier. It was also found a correlation between the factor “Absence of immediate quantifiable benefits” with the “Lack of financial support” barrier, fitting these variables into the “Financial” barrier category. “Organizational support” and “Investment in training” were identified as the main enablers for the Agile Methodologies implementation. Lastly, a flowchart was developed to sequence the possible enablers and recommendations to overcome the identified barriers.A Indústria Automóvel é uma das maiores contribuições para a economia global, não sendo somente um elemento essencial na economia de países industrializados, onde a produção e venda de veículos motorizados são um dos maiores impulsionadores da economia desses países, como também contribui para o crescimento de outras atividades relacionadas, tais como metalurgia, plásticos e borrachas, dispositivos eletrónicos, têxteis, etc. contribuindo desta forma para a industrialização global. O aumento da pressão competitiva no setor conduziu à estruturação dos processos de desenvolvimento do produto, através da definição de conceitos e hierarquias organizacionais. No entanto, à medida que os projetos se tornam mais dinâmicos e complexos, consequentemente as formas de os gerir devem ser reconsideradas. A Gestão Ágil de Projeto surgiu na indústria do software, mas a sua aplicabilidade é teoricamente possível em qualquer indústria. Esta abordagem, apesar de permitir alcançar rápidas mudanças nos requisitos através de repetições sucessivas, e aumentar a eficiência do processo, as organizações também enfrentam barreiras e desafios na sua implementação. Embora haja evidência literária quanto às barreiras observadas na implementação de metodologias ágeis no desenvolvimento de software, é escassa a evidência bibliográfica quanto às barreiras observadas no setor da produção, e é praticamente nula na Indústria Automóvel. Este estudo pretendeu colmatar uma lacuna na literatura, através da identificação de barreiras na implementação de Metodologias Ágeis na Indústria Automóvel por intermédio de um questionário, categorizar as barreiras, assim como identificar a sua principal origem, encontrar possíveis recomendações e facilitadores para ultrapassar as barreiras identificadas. Foram encontradas barreiras “Organizacionais” e de “Conhecimento e tecnologia”, através do fator “Competência de gestão inadequada”. Foi corroborada a existência de barreiras “Institucionais”, através do fator “Predisposição para a mudança”, e a sua correlação com a barreira “Não obrigação”. Também foi encontrada uma correlação entre o fator “Ausência de benefícios imediatos quantificáveis” com a barreira “Falta de suporte financeiro”, abrangendo estas variáveis na categoria de barreiras “Financial”. “Suporte organizacional” e “Investimento em formação” foram identificados como os facilitadores principais para a implementação de Metodologias Ágeis. Por fim, foi desenvolvido um fluxograma de modo a sequenciar os possíveis facilitadores e recomendações para superar as barreiras identificadas

Introduction to Production: Philosophies, Flow, and Analysis

Production is a fundamental societal and economic activity. Production has to do with the transformation of raw materials into useful objects and includes the knowledge to complete the transformation effectively. Thus, production is a board topic ranging from philosophies about how to approach production such as lean and quick response manufacturing, how to organize production facilities, how to analyze production operations, how to control the flow of materials during production, the devices used to move materials within a facility, and strategies for coordinating multiple production facilities. An integrated introduction to production is presented in a set of learning modules. In significant part, these learning modules are based on over 20 years of interactions with the professional production community in the West Michigan region where Grand Rapids and Holland are the principal cities. This community consists almost exclusively of small and medium size companies engaged primarily in high mix, low volume manufacturing. Students in the Bachelor of Science in Engineering and Master of Science in Engineering programs at Grand Valley State University often work in production for these companies. Thus, interactions are facilitated particularly though master’s degree capstone projects, several of which are referenced in the learning modules. The learning modules are well-grounded in established production concepts. Emphasis is placed on proven procedures such as systematic layout planning, factory physics, various production flow control techniques such as kanban and POLCA, and discrete event simulation. Professional practice is a focus of the learning modules. Material from processional groups such as the Lean Enterprise Institute and the Material Handling Institute (MHI) is integrated. The opportunity to read and discuss professional publications presenting production improvement projects is provided. Students are referred to professional videos and web sites throughout the learning modules. All materials provided are referenced are open access and free of charge. When downloading the main file, it is important to also download and use the Main File Support as it contains supplemental materials.https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/books/1022/thumbnail.jp

Evaluating quality-inspection effectiveness and affordability in short run productions

STRUCTURED ABSTRACT Purpose – Illustrating a practical method for supporting the design of quality inspections in short run and single unit manufacturing processes. Design/methodology/approach – Processes are decomposed into a number of steps, which are potentially critical to defect generation. Several parameters concerning effectiveness and cost of the inspections are identified and aggregated into a probabilistic model for representing the process propensity to produce defects. Two indicators related to the effectiveness and cost of inspections are defined and tested through a case study concerning a short run manufacturing process in the automotive industry. Findings – The combined use of the proposed indicators allows to support the selection of the more appropriate inspection procedures, in a simple and practical way. Research limitations/implications – The above indicators and probabilistic model rely on the following simplifying assumptions: (i) possible occurrence of a single defect typology in each step, and (ii) absence of correlation between the parameters related to different steps. Future research will focus on developing more general probabilistic models and identifying practical methods to estimate the relevant parameters. Practical implications – The proposed model and indicators may be applied to a variety of industrial contexts, related to short run and single unit productions. Originality/value – The proposed model and indicators allow to identify the more effective and affordable inspection procedures for short run and single unit productions. Their quantitative connotation represents an important novelty with respect to the classical qualitative approaches. Also, the proposed model and indicators take account of possible inspection errors

Modelling, simulation, and analysis of supply chain systems using discrete-event simulation.

Many approaches have been developed which support the construction of detailed supply chain models useful for analysis and simulation. However, most of these approaches lack the ability to model the supply chain in a single model, and usually produce solutions that lead to conflicting strategies between the companies. Simulation using a discrete-event simulation (DES) is an effective tool for the dynamically changing supply chain variables, thus allowing the system to be modelled more realistically. Considering the complexities of the supply chain system and the interrelations between its various systems, the task of developing such a model is challenging. The aim of this thesis is to develop a simulation model of a fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) supply chain with a DES tool. This model would be utilised as a decision-support system (DSS) for the investigation of the effectiveness of several inventory policies towards effective coordination and control of production inventory system, in various situations. This thesis discusses fundamental issues in the development of a simulation model for a supply chain using the DES tool, ARENA. A modelling procedure for the development of a supply chain simulation model is presented. The overall structure of the model is constructed by incorporating the well documented concept of modelling materials flowing downstream with an approach of modelling orders flowing upstream (modelling of feedback information). The model has an easily adaptable structure where rules (inventory policies) and model variables can be modified. The flexibility in the model's structure allows devising appropriate experimental designs, for several tests to be performed to imitate some realistic situations or scenarios (including the presence of disturbances). A new control theory oriented inventory policy, called the pseudo PID, is proposed. Detailed evaluations of five inventory policies for a production-inventory control under dynamic and stochastic conditions is presented. The findings demonstrate the ability of the approach to provide a wealth of potential solutions to the decision-maker, and confirm the qualitative behaviour of a supply chain in response to the different policies

SimLean: a reference framework for embedding simulation in lean projects

The intense global competition in today’s market is forcing organisations to looking for good process improvement techniques constantly. Currently lean methodology is one of the most popular programs for process improvement. However, the static lean tools have caused problems in lean implementation. The main aim of the research work is to develop a reference framework about embedding simulation in lean projects. By embedding simulation method in lean projects, deficiencies of static lean tools such as their inability to assess the effects of variation, to validate effects of proposed changes before implementation, to identify other possible improvements or to capture the interactions between system components (Standridge and Marvel, 2006) might be overcome. A combination of research methodology approaches is adopted. This includes conducting literature review, observing companies’ practices and interviewing experts, and adopting several case studies. The focal points of the reference framework are designed in the preimplementation stage of lean projects. Referring to the detailed implementation of the framework, a new modelling environment is proposed. This new environment will use customised VSM templates built in Microsoft Visio software and in Arena simulation system respectively to achieve the quick modelling for lean projects. The proposed modelling environment is validated through five case studies. The main features of the proposed framework are summarized as systematic, generic and the ability to overcome major challenges. A major contribution of the developed system is its ability to simplify, facilitate and standardize simulation modelling in lean projects. It dramatically reduces building blocks in the model, saves model constructing time and eliminates errors in logic design; the simulation models provides better results than static VSM; meanwhile, the interface between Arena and Visio greatly reduces users’ fear for complex simulation modelling environment, and increases the ease of use