Reusable template for simulation of overhead cranes interferences

Abstract

Overhead cranes are critical equipment in heavy industries, ports and construction. In many cases, they may become bottlenecks for the whole production process. At the phase of plant design, or when evaluating modifications to the processes, it is critical to analyze their behavior, specially the interferences that occur among each other. Considering factors like breakdowns, process time variability, buffer capacities and interferences with other vehicles; linear calculation is not applicable and simulation is required. This paper explains the development of a reusable template for simulating a group of overhead cranes integrating it in a major ARENA model.