Rapid simulation model building through classification of problems: A case of manufacturing assembly lines

Abstract

This paper presents a new method for rapid simulation model generation using cladistics, a technique commonly used for evolutionary analysis in biology. In this research, cladistics is adopted as a basis for classification of problems typically found in manufacturing systems particularly assembly lines. The basic premise in this research is that manufacturing systems evolve (e.g. from craft production to mass production to lean production) and therefore their problems also evolve over time. Using cladistics, this evolution can be traced as the problems and their characteristics are hierarchically grouped in the form of phylogenetic tree or also known as cladogram. Model templates consisting of both physical and performance measures components were then developed from the cladogram. A prototype consisting of a secondary user interface was developed to link the template and the simulation engine. The prototype allows novice modellers to quickly build the model by first suggesting the most appropriate template to the problem being solved using simulation and then providing all the modelling constructs to facilitate model building. The innovative feature of the user interface lies in the functionalities which are capable of receiving and processing the data, identifying the most appropriate template and generating routing summary based on the users' requirements in real time.