Product category:
Data acquisition software and systems
News Release from: Adept Scientific | Subject: Micro Saint simulation software
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 11 October 2002
Simulation arrives at optimum production
system
How to design a new production line that optimally employs just-in-time and cellular manufacturing techniques was solved through simulation techniques.
In every manufacturing organisation, the pressure of finding ways to reduce costs while improving throughput and quality is endless Foreign competition is forcing us to find better ways to produce better products at a lower cost
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 11 Sep 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
Adept supplies spectroscopy software to Protea
Adept Scientific has supplied Protea with Grams spectroscopy software from Thermo Scientific for use in its emissions monitoring and analysis.
Adept enhances Measurement's PCI boards
Adept Scientific has announced the introduction of two digital I/O boards for the PCI Express Bus from Measurement Computing.
If we don't someone else will.
Many manufacturing industries are feeling the pinch of this increased competition.
Yet, many manufacturing companies continue to find ways to become more competitive and improve quality.
Further reading
Quality monitor gives realtime SPC feedback
NWA Quality Monitor from Adept Scientific enables a factory to standardise workflow procedures, automate data collection, and provide real-time SPC feedback throughout an operation.
Device acts as Ethernet I/0 slave and more
The 'Cube' is flexible and is capable of being deployed as an Ethernet I/O slave, a standalone data logger, a standalone Linux-based PAC or a Modbus slave.
Simulink users gain powerful, flexible I/O target
A powerful Ethernet tool supports the creation and tuning of a wide variety of applications, including simulation model verification, rapid prototyping and hardware-in-the-loop testing.
And they must continue to have even better ways.
To make it worse, the closer we get towards the best way of manufacturing products, the harder it is to find an even better way.
How do many manufacturers do it? Simulation, that's how! Simulation lets you evaluate different manufacturing system designs and ask 'what if - ' questions with alternative ways of meeting demands with various resource mixes.
By evaluating different manufacturing system designs, you'll not only increase your chances of finding the best way to do it, but you'll learn something about the manufacturing process that will lead you to the best way faster.
A Fortune 100 manufacturing company had a cellular manufacturing layout that they thought could be made more efficient.
Since they were about to make substantial capital improvements in the manufacturing system equipment, they wanted to ensure that the new equipment was integrated with the old equipment in the best way possible.
And they didn't want to find the best way through trial and error.
To help the company answer this question, they used Micro Saint simulation software to design a cellular layout that would meet production goals.
This study required a particularly sophisticated model because the production goals were spread across 40 different product types, and the capacity for inventory was very limited, indicating a need for a JIT design.
Furthermore, the simulation study was limited to three man-weeks total.
To build a model in three weeks, a work cell was designed that satisfied production requirements.
The design developed from using this simulation model was implemented, and the production systems design was validated given their product mix and production schedules.
But that was just the beginning.
In the process of building the model, the customer gained an understanding of the system that showed them many areas for potential improvement.
However, the project did not attempt to discover the 'optimal design' for the cell.
Rather, it only identified one of an entire family of solutions that would work.
So models were built of other production line alternatives in order to perform trade studies.
These models allowed the customer to consider tradeoffs based on operator utilisation balanced against operator costs, training, and skill levels.
It also balanced machine and capacity against the cost of the equipment, the operator training and installation requirement, and the processing time.
Optimisation was measured using cost-benefit analyses that balanced labor and facility costs against production rates.
The bottom line was that the manufacturer was able to increase production by 71% and increase profit per unit by 142%.
This resulted in an increase in the annual profit of the customer by over 400% on that single production line! The company reduced costs and improved quality with a small investment in simulation.
The products from this line are now selling on the international market.
Furthermore, Micro Saint has helped this company to see how simulation is a valuable resource for manufacturing system design.
And they have over 400 working models that have proven the soundness of this approach.
The possibility for doing this to your system is there too.
It's always just a question of what's the best way to get the most out while putting the least in.
By using simulation you can test out the ability of the manufacturing system to provide the required capacity with different resource mixes and layouts. Request a free brochure from Adept Scientific ...
• Adept Scientific: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Manufacturingtalk email newsletter
• Manufacturingtalk Home Page
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
