ANALYSIS OF DIFFERENT TRANSPORT SOLUTIONS FOR A FLEXIBLE MANUFACTURING CELL USING COMPUTER SIMULATION

Abstract

The design and selection of efficient material handling system is essential for improving the performance of a manufacturing system. The problems of selecting an appropriate material handling system for a FMS can have several solutions, depending on the type of transporter, the form and density of the transporter network, the locations of waiting areas in the network, locations and capacities of buffers, the strategy or logic of the transport execution etc. In this work, a simplified approach has been followed to select the material handling system for flexible manufacturing cell. ARENA simulation software was used to develop models for the analysis. Three simulation models were developed for a manufacturing cell using the following material handling equipments: (i) Automated conveyor system. (ii) Automated guided vehicle system. (iii) Automated rail guided vehicle. Simulation was used to investigate the effects of various order sequencing rules on selected system performance measures. The performance measures of concern were part cycle times, work in progress, work in progress ratio, cell utilization, total time to produce number of parts, and throughput. Based on the performance criteria the system alternatives were evaluated and suggestions made about the best material handling system having optimum combination of utilization and cycle times and at the same time keeping the work in progress with in reasonable limit.