Högskolan i Skövde

The application of discrete event simulation methodology in the analysis of higher level manufacturing systems has been limited due to model complexity and the lack of aggregation techniques for manufacturing lines. Recent research has introduced new aggregation methods preparing for new approaches in the analysis of higher level manufacturing systems or networks. In this paper one of the new aggregated line modeling techniques is successfully applied on a real world manufacturing system, solving a real-world problem. The results demonstrate that the aggregation technique is adequate to be applied in plant wide models. Furthermore, in this particular case, there is a potential to reduce storage levels by over 25 %, through leveling the production flow, without compromising deliveries to customers.

Improving production line performance and identifying bottlenecks using simulation-based optimization has been shown to be an effective approach. Nevertheless, for larger production systems which are consisted of multiple production lines, using simulation-based optimization can be too computationally expensive, due to the complexity of the models. Previous research has shown promising techniques for aggregating production line data into computationally efficient modules, which enables the simulation of higher-level systems, i.e., factories. This paper shows how a real-world factory flow can be optimized by applying the previously mentioned aggregation techniques in combination with multi-objective optimization using an experimental approach. The particular case studied in this paper reveals potential reductions of storage levels by over 30 %, lead time reductions by 67 %, and batch sizes reduced by more than 50 % while maintaining the delivery precision of the industrial system.

Analyzing networks of supply-chains, where each chain is comprised of several actors with different purposes and performance measures, is a difficult task. There exists a large potential in optimizing supply-chains for many companies and therefore the supply-chain optimization problem is of great interest to study. To be able to optimize the supply-chain on a global scale, fast models are needed to reduce computational time. Previous research has been made into the aggregation of factories, but the technique has not been tested against supply-chain problems. When evaluating the configuration of factories and their inter-transportation on a global scale, new insights can be gained about which parameters are important and how the aggregation fits to a supply-chain problem. The paper presents an interactive proof-of-concept model enabling testing of supply chain concepts by users and decision makers.

Reacting quickly to changing market demands and new variants by improving and adapting industrial systems is an important business advantage. Changes to systems are costly; especially when those systems are already in place. Resources invested should be targeted so that the results of the improvements are maximized. One method allowing this is the combination of discrete event simulation, aggregated models, multi-objective optimization, and data-mining shown in this article. A real-world optimization case study of an industrial problem is conducted resulting in lowering the storage levels, reducing lead time, and lowering batch sizes, showing the potential of optimizing on the factory level. Furthermore, a base for decision-support is presented, generating clusters from the optimization results. These clusters are then used as targets for a decision tree algorithm, creating rules for reaching different solutions for a decision-maker to choose from. Thereby allowing decisions to be driven by data, and not by intuition. 

Removing bottlenecks that restrain the overall performance of a factory can give companies a competitive edge. Although in principle, it is possible to connect multiple detailed discrete-event simulation models to form a complete factory model, it could be too computationally expensive, especially if the connected models are used for simulation-based optimizations. Observing that computational speed of running a simulation model can be significantly reduced by aggregating multiple line-level models into an aggregated factory level, this paper investigates, with some loss of detail, if the identified bottleneck information from an aggregated factory model, in terms of which parameters to improve, would be useful and accurate enough when compared to the bottleneck information obtained with some detailed connected line-level models. The results from a real-world, multi-level industrial application study have demonstrated the feasibility of this approach, showing that the aggregation method can represent the underlying detailed line-level model for bottleneck analysis.

In an increasingly competitive market due to customer demands of customization and an increasing rate of new product variant introductions, companies need to explore new tools to support them to better predict and optimally re-configure their production networks. In terms of the factory flow level, discrete-event simulation and simulation-based optimization represent such kinds  of tools available at the disposal of production engineers or managers. For a complex factory consisting of multiple production lines, creating detailed simulation models of these lines and connecting them together can be used for optimization, but the computational complexity can be prohibitively large for acquiring results in time. Model simplification methods can be utilized to reduce the computational complexity of a model. In this study, a systematic literature review is conducted with the aim of identifying simplification methods for coded models, characteristics of the detailed model, type of industry, motivation, and validation measures. Based on the results of the literature review an experimental study wherein the limits of a specific simplification method are analyzed. We compare the output of a dynamically created model with the output of a simplified representation. A correlation can be observed between outputs for medium to large lines, but for smaller lines, there is a larger discrepancy. The simplification method allows for the reduction in simulation runtime, enabling simulation-based optimization of large lines or interconnected simplified models forming a production network, i.e., a factory, to be optimized and analyzed more efficiently, leading to competitive advantages for companies.