Simulation in manufacturing systems

Simulation in manufacturing systems is the use of software to make computer models of

manufacturing systems, so to analyze them and thereby obtain important information. It
has been syndicated as the second most popular management science among manufacturing
managers. However, its use has been limited due to the complexity of some software
packages, and to the lack of preparation some users have in the fields of probability and
statistics.
This technique represents a valuable tool used by engineers when evaluating the effect of
capital investment in equipment and physical facilities like factory plants, warehouses,
and distribution centers. Simulation can be used to predict the performance of an existing
or planned system and to compare alternative solutions for a particular design problem.

Objectives
The most important objective of simulation in manufacturing is the understanding of the
change to the whole system because of some local changes. It is easy to understand the
difference made by changes in the local system but it is very difficult or impossible to assess
the impact of this change in the overall system. Simulation gives us some measure of this
impact. Measures which can be obtained by a simulation analysis are:

 Parts produced per unit time

 Time spent in system by parts
 Time spent by parts in queue
 Time spent during transportation from one place to another
 In time deliveries made
 Build-up of the inventory
 Inventory in process
 Percent utilization of machines and workers.
Some other benefits include Just-in-time manufacturing, calculation of optimal resources
required; validation of the proposed operation logic for controlling the system, and data
collected during modelling that may be used elsewhere.
The following is an example: In a manufacturing plant one machine processes 100 parts
in 10 hours but the parts coming to the machine in 10 hours is 150. So there is a build-
up of inventory. This inventory can be reduced by employing another machine
occasionally. Thus we understand the reduction in local inventory build-up. But now
this machine produces 150 parts in 10 hours which might not be processed by the next
machine and thus we have just shifted the in-process inventory from one machine to
another without having any impact on overall production
Simulation is used to address some issues in manufacturing as follows: In workshop to see
the ability of system to meet the requirement, to have optimal inventory to cover for machine
failures.
Methods
The following is a list of popular simulation techniques:

1. Discrete event simulation (DES)

 2. System dynamics (SD)
3. Agent-based modelling (ABM)
4. Intelligent simulation: based on an integration of simulation and artificial intelligence
(AI) techniques
5. Petri net
6. Monte Carlo simulation (MCS)
7. Virtual simulation: allows the user to model the system in a 3D immersive
environment
8. Hybrid techniques: combination of different simulation techniques.

Applications
Simulation Type
Number Application Description
usually used
Assembly line
1 DES Design and balancing of assembly lines
balancing
Uncertainty due to changing capacity
DES, SD, Monte levels, increasing the current resources,
2 Capacity planning
Carlo, Petri-net improving current operations to increase
capacity
Comparing planning and scheduling in
Cellular Virtual
3 CM, comparing alternative cell
manufacturing simulation
formation
Finished products delivery from
Transportation DES, ABS, distribution centers or plants, vehicle
4
management Petri-net routing, logistics, traffic management,
congestion pricing
Hybrid
5 Facility location Locating facilities to minimize costs
Techniques
6 Forecasting SD Comparing different forecasting models
Inventory DES, Monte Cost of holding, inventory levels,
7
management carlo replenishment, determining batch sizes

Software
Some popular software used in the manufacturing industry includes:
 AnyLogic: Its main feature is that it supports system dynamics, discrete event and
agent based methodologies. It is used in manufacturing, supply chain and logistics among
other areas.
 Arena (software): a popular discrete event simulator used by many large companies.
 Flexsim: a discrete event manufacturing simulation software. It is used in fields such
as production assembly lines, logistics and transportation.
 Plant Simulation: computer application especially design for production systems and
logistic operations.
 Simio: a user-friendly, object orientated discrete event simulation software that allows
to rapidly build 3D animated models.
 Visual Components: is a family of 5 products used to efficiently design factories. Among
these products is 3D Simulate, which allows collecting and analysing data about a
production line's performance.

Discrete event simulation

A discrete-event simulation (DES) models the operation of a system as
a discrete sequence of events in time. Each event occurs at a particular instant in time and
marks a change of state in the system. Between consecutive events, no change in the system
is assumed to occur; thus the simulation can directly jump in time from one event to the
next.
This contrasts with continuous simulation in which the simulation continuously tracks the
system dynamics over time. Instead of being event-based, this is called an activity-based
simulation; time is broken up into small time slices and the system state is updated according
to the set of activities happening in the time slice. Because discrete-event simulations do not
have to simulate every time slice, they can typically run much faster than the corresponding
continuous simulation.
A more recent method is the three-phased approach to discrete event simulation (Pidd, 1998).
In this approach, the first phase is to jump to the next chronological event. The second phase
is to execute all events that unconditionally occur at that time (these are called B-events). The
third phase is to execute all events that conditionally occur at that time (these are called C-
events). The three phase approach is a refinement of the event-based approach in which
simultaneous events are ordered so as to make the most efficient use of computer resources.
The three-phase approach is used by a number of commercial simulation software packages,
but from the user's point of view, the specifics of the underlying simulation method are
generally hidden.
A common exercise in learning how to build discrete-event simulations is to model a queue,
such as customers arriving at a bank to be served by a teller. In this example, the system
entities are Customer-queue and Tellers. The system events are Customer-
Arrival and Customer-Departure. (The event of Teller-Begins-Service can be part of the logic
of the arrival and departure events.) The system states, which are changed by these events,
are Number-of-Customers-in-the-Queue (an integer from 0 to n) and Teller-Status (busy or
idle).The random variables that need to be characterized to model this
system stochastically are Customer-Interarrival-Time and Teller-Service-Time. An agent-
based framework for performance modelling of an optimistic parallel discrete event simulator
is another example for a discrete event simulation.

Components

State
A system state is a set of variables that captures the salient properties of the system to be
studied. The state trajectory over time S (t) can be mathematically represented by a step
function whose value can change whenever an event occurs.
Clock
The simulation must keep track of the current simulation time, in whatever measurement
units are suitable for the system being modeled. In discrete-event simulations, as opposed to
continuous simulations, time 'hops' because events are instantaneous – the clock skips to the
next event start time as the simulation proceeds.
Events list
The simulation maintains at least one list of simulation events. This is sometimes called
the pending event set because it lists events that are pending as a result of previously
simulated event but have yet to be simulated themselves. An event is described by the time at
which it occurs and a type, indicating the code that will be used to simulate that event. It is
common for the event code to be parametrized, in which case, the event description also
contains parameters to the event code.
When events are instantaneous, activities that extend over time are modelled as sequences of
events. Some simulation frameworks allow the time of an event to be specified as an interval,
giving the start time and the end time of each event.
Single-threaded simulation engines based on instantaneous events have just one current
event. In contrast, multi-threaded simulation engines and simulation engines supporting an
interval-based event model may have multiple current events. In both cases, there are
significant problems with synchronization between current events.
The pending event set is typically organized as a priority queue, sorted by event time. That is,
regardless of the order in which events are added to the event set, they are removed in strictly
chronological order. Several general-purpose priority queue algorithms have proven effective
for discrete-event simulation, most notably, the splay tree. More recent alternatives
include skip lists, calendar queues, and ladder queues
Ending condition
Because events are bootstrapped, theoretically a discrete-event simulation could run forever.
So the simulation designer must decide when the simulation will end. Typical choices are "at
time t" or "after processing n number of events" or, more generally, "when statistical measure
X reaches the value x".

Simulation engine logic

The main loop of a discrete-event simulation is something like this:
Start

 Initialize Ending Condition to FALSE.

 Initialize system state variables.
 Initialize Clock (usually starts at simulation time zero).
 Schedule an initial event (i.e., put some initial event into the Events List).
“Do loop” or “while loop”
While (Ending Condition is FALSE) then do the following:

 Set clock to next event time.

 Do next event and remove from the Events List.
 Update statistics.
End

 Generate statistical report.

Common uses

 Diagnosing process issues

 Hospital applications
 Lab test performance improvement ideas
 Evaluating capital investment decisions
 Network simulators