Core Manufacturing Simulation Data Research Articles

Interoperability performance evaluation for discrete event simulation models: A step towards multi-level data exchange

According to use scenarios, 3D-based virtual commissioning can be divided into three levels: machine, cell and plant. As virtual commissioning at each level focuses on different contents, corresponding applications are developed in different data models. The resulting 3D emulation and simulation models are thus not easily exchangeable or reusable. At machine level, a physics-based model is used to conduct emulation. While at plant level discrete event simulation models are quite common. A framework for exchanging 3D emulation and simulation models between software at different levels would stimulate model reuse and lower the effort for model creation. To date, no interoperability performance evaluation for discrete event simulation models has been presented. This paper investigates industrial standards and related work on discrete event model generation and data exchange. The interoperability performance of discrete event simulation tools is evaluated by the example case of exchanging models between two commercial tools (i.e., FlexSim and Visual Components) via Core Manufacturing Simulation Data and AutomationML. The result shows the former converts 7% more attributes than the latter. Furthermore, an element-based comparison is conducted to reveal overlaps and assess the potential of (partial) model reuse during the data exchange between 3D emulation and simulation models.

Manufacturing Bill-of-Materials Plus Operations Visualization Using D3

Visualization of factory production flow facilitates test optimization decision-making, given the complexity inherent in many organization’s manufacturing environments. Constructing production flow visualizations can be difficult and time-consuming, and has often involved expensive simulation software. In this paper we describe successful work populating NIST CMSD Core Manufacturing Simulation Data from existing factory data, visualizing factory flows using the open source D3.js visualization toolset. By mapping existing factory test data using the CMSD standard, the open source visualization toolset represents a lower-cost mechanism for understanding and optimizing test operations, detailed in this paper. The visualization was developed with a small team and deployed into production at a large aerospace manufacturer over the course of four months, and is now used by multiple business units for factory flow optimizations of their complex engineered products.

Analysis of the integration between operations management manufacturing tools with discrete event simulation

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the integration of discrete event simulation (DES) in operations management manufacturing tools. Due to the movement of the fourth industrial revolution (Industrie 4.0), the integration of manufacturing is a topic constantly discussed in many areas. Moreover, it presents great research and innovation opportunities. To achieve the objective of this study, a search was conducted using the main keywords found in papers related to manufacturing systems and operations management manufacturing tools. Also, academic databases were literature research to identify the keywords relevant to the study added to DES. We considered only articles from the last 8 years. At the end between the search, the integration between tools such as manufacturing execution system, enterprise resource planning, radio frequency identification, core manufacturing simulation data, e-Kanban with DES were analysed. Furthermore, it was observed that the tools cannot always be used separately, but in some cases, these tools should be used jointly to solve problems related to production systems. Another aspect observed was how the data collected in production systems are fed to the DES models. Through, it was possible to analyse an existing gap regarding how the data is used between DES and manufacturing systems, thereby enabling research development in this area.

Agent-based communication to map and exchange shop floor data between MES and material flow simulation based on the open standard CMSD

Simulation of manufacturing systems is state of the art in many companies. The simulations are used to optimize processes, to plan alternative solutions before a shop floor modification is realized or to test PLC programs. In all these cases, the simulation program has to represent the real shop floor processes and the corresponding machinery as well as possible. In this paper, we present a method to parameterize a simulation model with real-time shop floor data collected by an MES (manufacturing execution system). The approach uses autonomous agents based on JADE (JAVA Agent Development Framework) as system connectors. The agent communication is based on the open SISO (Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization) standard CMSD (Core Manufacturing Simulation Data) as exchange format which can be represented in XML.

A Journey in Standard Development: The Core Manufacturing Simulation Data (CMSD) Information Model.

This report documents a journey “from research to an approved standard” of a NIST-led standard development activity. That standard, Core Manufacturing Simulation Data (CMSD) information model, provides neutral structures for the efficient exchange of manufacturing data in a simulation environment. The model was standardized under the auspices of the international Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization (SISO). NIST started the research in 2001 and initiated the standardization effort in 2004. The CMSD standard was published in two SISO Products. In the first Product, the information model was defined in the Unified Modeling Language (UML) and published in 2010 as SISO-STD-008-2010. In the second Product, the information model was defined in Extensible Markup Language (XML) and published in 2013 as SISO-STD-008-01-2012. Both SISO-STD-008-2010 and SISO-STD-008-01-2012 are intended to be used together.

Test Implementation and Initialisation of a Simulation Model Using CMSD

This paper describes a test implementation of the Core Manufacturing Simulation Data (CMSD) information model and the integration and initialisation of a simulation model in a newly developed Simulation Engine. The cost of developing, implementing and using simulation technology is high. The costs of integrating simulation models with other manufacturing applications are even higher. There is always a need to enable data exchange and sharing between simulation applications and other software applications. The idea of the CMSD effort is to facilitate the above using neutral, reusable data structures for managing actual production operations and for simulating the performance of the manufacturing system. To address the problem of time consuming pre-coding for DES projects, a knowledge extraction tool is currently being developed. The knowledge extraction tool will read data from several resources of an organisation and output it in a format that is applicable for simulation purposes. The format that we adopted follows the CMSD standard in order to describe simulation related data. In this paper we present the modelling of a complex production line of our industrial partner with the CMSD standard and the development of the translator in ManPy so that it can read the CMSD information model and run the simulation.

Interoperability for virtual manufacturing systems

As manufacturing systems are often costly to develop and operate, simulation technology has been demonstrated to be an effective tool for improving manufacturing system design and the efficiency of manufacturing operations and maintenance. However, effectively and efficiently using simulation remains an important issue in the manufacturing industry. One of the principal reasons is the difficulty in processing, organising, and making use of the production-related information about the manufacturing system to be simulated. The difficulty stemmed from no standard representation for such data, making the effort to input data such as product attributes, processing times, and material quantity requirements into simulations complex, time consuming, and error prone. The core manufacturing simulation data (CMSD) standards, SISO-STD-008-2010 and SISO-STD-008-01-2012, specifically address this data representation issue. CMSD enables the import/export of many different types of factory data into computer simulations and other manufacturing systems. This paper describes the motivation for creating CMSD, standardisation efforts for CMSD, and related research efforts. This paper also describes how CMSD could be used as an integration mechanism in a sustainable manufacturing test-bed being developed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The test-bed will be a virtual manufacturing environment to support the testing and validation of sustainability metrics, assessment methods, and tools for use in manufacturing.

Automated input data management: evaluation of a concept for reduced time consumption in discrete event simulation

Input data management is a crucial and time-consuming part of a simulation project. Consequently, improvement of this process has substantial potential to increase the rapidity of simulation projects, thus enabling more detailed analyses in design and development of production systems. This paper presents the development of a concept and an associated software demonstrator called the Generic Data Management Tool (GDM-Tool), which automates several critical and time-consuming data input activities. More specifically, raw data are extracted from multiple sources, with different data structures, and transformed to simulation input through data cleaning, calculations and distribution fitting, all done in one automated process. Finally, the simulation input is presented in the Core Manufacturing Simulation Data format, for further use in simulation applications. As a first step towards validation, the GDM-Tool was evaluated during a case study in the automotive industry. The results show that the time needed for input data management was reduced by 78%, as relative to a traditional manual approach.

Interoperability of manufacturing applications using the Core Manufacturing Simulation Data (CMSD) standard information model

The goal of this paper is to propose an approach to enhance interoperability between manufacturing applications using the Core Manufacturing Simulation Data Information Model (CMSDIM) in order to streamline design and manufacturing activities throughout the product life cycle. To this end, a system framework required to facilitate such interoperability is first presented. The proposed approach, architecture, and developed translators are then illustrated and demonstrated using two separate case studies. The first case study facilitates design for manufacturing and assembly improvements for the development of new products, allowing for part of a discrete event simulation model of a downstream manufacturing and assembly process to be automatically generated from corresponding product assembly information contained in the lean design engineering software. Conceptual design and development of this case study, which extracts outputs from Design Profit™ lean design software and generates a corresponding discrete event simulation model in ProModel™ for a Nikon® L-100 Camera, is then discussed. The second case study demonstrates interoperability of three applications (order and inventory system, Gantt chart scheduler, and discrete event simulation) for a generic job shop operation. Using the considered case studies, this paper also details and demonstrates the benefits of interoperability enhancement using the CMSDIM, which is an important consideration in any product life cycle. Finally, we discuss how future research opportunities integrating additional manufacturing applications can be used to address intellectual challenges present in our current approach.

Core Manufacturing Simulation Data – a manufacturing simulation integration standard: overview and case studies

Standard representations for information entities common to manufacturing simulation could help reduce the costs associated with simulation model construction and data exchange between simulation and other manufacturing applications. This would make simulation technology more affordable and accessible to a wide range of potential industrial users. To foster the more widespread use of manufacturing simulation technology through the reduction of data interoperability issues, the Core Manufacturing Simulation Data (CMSD) specification was created. CMSD is a standardised, computer-interpretable representation that allows for the efficient exchange of manufacturing shop floor-related data in a manner that it can be used in the creation and execution of manufacturing simulations. The work has being standardised under the auspices of the Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization (SISO). CMSD defines an information model that describes the characteristics of and relationships between the core manufacturing entities that define shop floor operations. This enables greater integration and data exchange possibilities for manufacturing simulations and other manufacturing applications. This article presents an overview of CMSD, its motivation, structure, and content. Descriptions of case studies using CMSD to integrate real world manufacturing applications are also presented.