dr michael packianather discusses driving efficiencies by using predictive simulation in factory...
TRANSCRIPT
Driving efficiencies by using predictive
simulation in Factory Design
Dr Michael Packianather, Cardiff University
Predictive Simulation Conference
MTC, Coventry, UK
28th April 2016
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i. The story
ii. Need for using Witness
iii. Witness – Designing factory layout
iv. Witness – Driving efficiencies
v. Student projects
vi. Contribution of Witness
Overview
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i. The Story
• Brick Fabrication Ltd
Mr John White, Director and Mr Sajith Soman, KTP Associate
• Cardiff University
Dr Michael Packianather, KB Leader and Mr Alan Davies, KB Partner
• Brick Fabrication Ltd.
- Medium sized business based in South Wales
- Founded in 1997
- 2 sites across UK – Pontypool & Stoke
- 70 employees
Involved Parties
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i. The Story
• Witness was used as part of the KTP project
• Project duration – 2 years
• Funded by Welsh Government
• Managed by Innovate UK
• Objective: Implement ‘fit’ manufacturing to drive
efficiencies
KTP Project
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i. The Story
All was well until one lovely day in June 2014, THIS HAPPENED!
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ii. Need for using Witness
• The company created plan to recover from the damage
Increase capacity by 3 times strategically by 2020
Incorporate new products into production line
• Witness was used as part of academic research to:
Re-design the factory layout incorporating future capacity
Decision making – maximum capacity per cell
Line balancing
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iii. Witness – Designing factory layout
Problem – The new expansion plan incorporated
1 additional factory
1 new product
Growth by 300% by 2020
Objective – Design the factory layout to satisfy all the above
The existing layout was modelled using Witness
Problems within the layout were identified for improvements
2 out of 3 production lines were modelled
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iii. Witness – Designing factory layout
Existing layout - Analysis
Process flow found not to be smooth
Buffer capacity when plant is running at maximum is
inadequate
Line balancing – high delay between processes
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iii. Witness – Designing factory layout
New layout model – Design procedure
Model the proposed layout with 3 products
Model to run for proposed increased capacity
Include new factory space along with existing
Consider maximum buffer size
Minimize movement between processes
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iii. Witness – Designing factory layout
New layout - Pictures
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iv. Witness – Driving Efficiencies
Existing manufacturing model - Analysis
Only 3 out of 7 processes had more than 70% utilisation
Idle time was over 50% for most operations, which was affecting
maximum plant capacity
Proposed ideas include investment in machinery to reduce cycle
time of most busy processes to increase plant capacity
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iv. Witness – Driving Efficiencies
Proposed manufacturing model - Analysis
Plant capacity could potentially be increased by 80%
Waiting time in buffers reduced resulting in shorter lead times by
40%
Increase in revenue by atleast 20% without additional labour
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v. Student Projects
Witness was also used in the following student projects:
Process flow improvements on a manufacturing firm using
simulation and sustainable waste management techniques
Process flow improvements using simulation based on lean, agile and
sustainable manufacturing
Design for sustainable manufacturing to reduce environmental footprint
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vi. Contribution of Witness
Witness helped
In decision making while redesigning factory layout
In designing efficient process flow
In identifying bottlenecks within the process
In targeting appropriate processes to invest in to obtain maximum
outputs
In justifying investment in machinery as models could predict output
changes
In improving efficiencies by predictive simulation
In reducing waste and making the process lean
In addressing the environmental footprint caused by the process
