Simulation offers a powerful way to investigate the performance of a manufacturing system. It can be used to explore ways to increase output, to investigate the impact of a design change, or a change to the production equipment, and so on. With simulation, the real system is not disrupted when experiments are carried out, and a great many different scenarios can be explored at speed.
The internal logistics studies investigated the flow of materials within a business unit. Other simulation work investigated the flow of components and products at the macro level, in the supply chain. Three internal logistics studies have been carried out, and selected findings are presented here.
By reading through the internal logistics pages, you will learn about:
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The justification for simulating factory operations
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The variety of logistic control methods that exist
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The performance metrics that we chose to use
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The cost and value of inventory
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How to validate a simulation, ensuring that it is sufficiently accurate
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How we were able to simulate a broad range of logistic strategies with a single model