Factory Optimization Through Simulation Modeling

Managing bottlenecks is vital for efficient production. New simulation tools cut through the uncertainty. With SimFactory, you balance production towards peak efficiency.

Constrained Production

All production systems have factors constraining their output, whether it is a lack of process inputs, logistics handlers, insufficient storage space, or imbalanced production rates inside a production chain. These production constraints cause system-wide bottlenecks, leading to direct inefficiencies in the bottleneck process as well as indirect second- and third-order effects as production imbalance builds up over time. Some processes may be starved of inputs while other processes may have built up an unnecessarily large buffer, tying up capital and limited storage space.

Managing bottlenecks effectively is vital for efficient production as bottlenecks constrain the throughput of the entire system, not just the individual process. These production constraints are difficult to detect, and even worse, the specific issues causing a bottleneck will often change over time leading to “shifting bottlenecks”. Any constraint in any process may be the system’s bottleneck for a brief window of time, making it extremely difficult and laborious to detect by mathematically looking back at historical and static production data.

Simulation cuts through the uncertainty of after-the-fact mathematical formulas by tracking events as they unfold. While relatively novel to the cable industry, simulations have proven themselves to be an effective tool when applied in other industries. Maillefer SimFactory introduces this useful tool to the benefit of cable producers worldwide.

3D plant simulation for cable manufacturing

Maillefer SimFactory is a simulation modelling service intended for cable manufacturers. During a SimFactory project, your cable factory is modelled within simulation software. An accuracy-validated model is used to run production scenarios to generate realistic production data. This data is then analyzed according to production optimization theories such as DMAIC and the Theory of Constraints to detect bottlenecks and design potential solutions to solve those bottlenecks.

Each potential improvement is tested. Successful improvements are implemented within the SimFactory model, leading to an iterative improvement process where each production variable can be separately controlled with traceable cause-effect relationships to target metrics.

Why use simulation?

Simulation offers cheap, fast, and comparatively easy analysis of complex production systems without interfering with the day-to-day operations of the factory. Simulation can be utilized to run “What if?” tests without real-world consequences. It avoids costly trial-and-error that would be present in physical systems. Simulation enables the safe testing of potential solutions before costly implementation.

Simulations provide a holistic view of the entire factory. All production steps, buffers, and logistics operators are tracked constantly throughout the simulation. It gives a full view of the production system and how it develops over time. Small and large consequences of altering individual production variables are tracked at a system-wide level, avoiding the “problem of local optimization”, which is likely to happen if the scope of analysis does not cover the entire system.

Using your current methods, can you determine how the utilization rate of the final production step will change if the production rate of the first step slows down by just 5%? Or what exact buffer levels should be maintained to ensure full production with minimal excess? The cost of inefficiencies such as these can be mitigated using a full factory simulation.

Layout expertise

By choosing SimFactory, you will enlist a team of plant design experts with a long and successful background in plant engineering, feasibility study, and layout design. Maillefer SimFactory combines this expertise with new, previously unavailable methods for testing and analysis enabled by the simulation tool.

A SimFactory project concludes with a report listing recommended actions. These actions are fully traceable from the raw data and methodology used to design and test the action to the expected results, showing clear cause-effect relationships between individual actions and their effects.

Support your message

Alongside well-reasoned recommendations and supporting graphics, the SimFactory service also includes a VR- and 3D-capable model of the project factory, which can be used to communicate with stakeholders. This visualization allows you to show, not tell, why specific production constraints should be managed. This allows individuals who may not be experts to intuitively understand the ramifications of seemingly small changes in the production system.

Tapani Savolainen

Plant Definition Consultant, Wire & Cable Business Unit

tapani.savolainen@maillefer.net