Abstract
Modern manufacturing systems should satisfy emerging needs related to sustainable development. The design of sustainable manufacturing systems can be valuably supported by simulation, traditionally employed mainly for time and cost reduction. In this paper, a multi-purpose digital simulation approach is proposed to deal with sustainable manufacturing systems design through Discrete Event Simulation (DES) and 3D digital human modelling. DES models integrated with data on power consumption of the manufacturing equipment are utilized to simulate different scenarios with the aim to improve productivity as well as energy efficiency, avoiding resource and energy waste. 3D simulation based on digital human modelling is employed to assess human factors issues related to ergonomics and safety of manufacturing systems. The approach is implemented for the sustainability enhancement of a real manufacturing cell of the aerospace industry, automated by robotic deburring. Alternative scenarios are proposed and simulated, obtaining a significant improvement in terms of energy efficiency (−87%) for the new deburring cell, and a reduction of energy consumption around −69% for the coordinate measuring machine, with high potential annual energy cost savings and increased energy efficiency. Moreover, the simulation-based ergonomic assessment of human operator postures allows 25% improvement of the workcell ergonomic index.
Highlights
In recent years, sustainable development is claiming increasing attention worldwide as the importance of economic, social, and environmental challenges has grown significantly [1,2]
The multi-purpose digital simulation approach is based on the incorporation of data related to energy flows and productivity into discrete event simulation (DES) models combined with ergonomics assessment through 3D digital human simulation
Cumulative load profiles for the whole manufacturing system may be generated during simulation as the sum of the single machine profiles. In accordance with this new approach, Discrete Event Simulation (DES) has been employed in this paper to provide information on the distribution of power consumption during production time, allowing estimation of the consumed energy and the manufacturing cell energy efficiency which represents one of the most relevant issues to be addressed in a sustainable manufacturing system
Summary
Sustainable development is claiming increasing attention worldwide as the importance of economic, social, and environmental challenges has grown significantly [1,2]. The traditional life cycle assessment methods developed in the last years to quantify the environmental impact of manufacturing do not deal with other sustainability aspects such as social and economic impact [25] To overcome these limitations, the Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) approach—addressing sustainability with a life cycle perspective based on interdisciplinary integration of life cycle analysis with economic models, ecological models, and social theories—has been proposed in the literature [26]. The multi-purpose digital simulation approach is based on the incorporation of data related to energy flows and productivity into discrete event simulation (DES) models combined with ergonomics assessment through 3D digital human simulation This methodology is validated with reference to a real manufacturing cell of the aerospace industry with the aim of enhancing the cell in the perspective of sustainability through the assessment of relevant performance indicators such as productivity, resource utilization, energy efficiency, and workcell ergonomics index. A significant improvement is obtained based on the analysis performed through the digital simulation of the manufacturing cell, providing quantitative measures of the main relevant sustainability indicators
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