Factory Layout Research Articles

Hybrid Software Deployment Strategy for Complex Industrial Systems

Complex industrial systems run the different pieces of software in several interconnected physical layers. The software update in such an environment must be performed in the shortest possible period with the lowest possible resource usage. Namely, it is critical to minimize the data traffic, decrease software downtime, and reduce the impact of the transitional stage during the update process. To meet these requirements and to unify the update process, the common software node structure along with a hybrid software deployment strategy is proposed. The hybrid strategy is defined as a combination of the existing and well-tested techniques—blue/green, canary, and feature flags. The main aim was to utilize their positive sides and to obtain a better overall effect. The approach was tested in the simulation environment, based on the realistic factory layout, and running the software related to the enterprise resource planning (ERP) level. For successful updates, the proposed hybrid deployment method reduced downtime on server nodes to less than 5% and on client nodes to a half compared with the standard approach. The volume of data traffic reduction in a configuration with sentinel nodes is reduced by one-third. The presented results look promising, especially in cases of erroneous updates when a roll back is needed, where the downtime on the server nodes is reduced to the level of 3%. Achieved results are used to define the set of recommendations that could be extended for the other software layers, followed by a discussion about further potential problems and strategy variations.

Lean Six Sigma untuk Minimasi Pemborosan pada Proses Penyamakan Kulit Domba

PT. Adi Satria Abadi is a company engaged in the leather industry. The research was carried out at the first location of the factory located in Bantul district, Yogyakarta. In the leather sheet production process, there is still some waste: Waste defect, in August 2021 there were 6,559.55 Sf of rework products from 161.9965 Sf of leather with a percentage of 4% rework products. As well as the waste of waiting time during manual drying, repetition of activities when transferring leather from hanging to milling, and the distance between dyeing stations to setters and hanging to milling.Based on the results of the analysis, the causes of waste include: Waiting time (cloudy weather), transportation waste (factory layout is not good), motion waste (the closest access to hanging is only through the setter section), rework toggle (skin pull is not strong because the operator is tired) and rework buff (operator misread the information and skin maturation in the tanning process is not good).The recommendations for improvement are adding a blower unit in the manual drying (hanging) section, rearranging the factory layout to minimize transportation and motion waste, adding rest hours and adding 2 fan units in the toggle room. Improving accuracy, and coordination between operators and foremen in the shaving section as well as improving the implementation of SOP in the tanning process.

Drawing spatial memories to life: mapping a Queensland heritage-listed woollen mill

ABSTRACT This article explores research methods around the generative process of remembering spaces. It discusses a participant’s extraordinary lists and drawings, ‘maps’ of factory layouts, created from memory, of an industrial heritage site, a woollen mill closed in 1971, situated in Ipswich, Queensland, Australia. These methods investigate the conditions, and entanglements across time, that enable detailed recall. The paper considers both, methods in the present that create an affective resonance with the past; and types of experiences in the past creating detailed memories in the present. The findings offer a combination of ethnographic methods for accessing those memories by being in-situ with participants through interviews, drawings, site walkthroughs, photo-elicitation and a perspective of wayfaring. Thus, the article contributes to geographical methods research exploring the generative, iterative and affective productions of memory and place.

Meta-Heuristic Model for Optimization of Production Layouts Based on Occupational Risk Assessment: Application to the Portuguese Wine Sector

A factory layout is a decisive factor in the improvement of production levels, efficiency, and even in the sustainability of a company. Regardless of the type of layout to be implemented, they are typically designed to optimize the work conditions and provide high performance, reducing production losses. The wine sector encompasses a wide diversity of possible configurations of production layouts, from one-level designs with separate infrastructures in several buildings or centralized single facilities, or even subdivided into different levels or floors. The general purpose is to maximize energy efficiency and process performance while minimizing costs. Thus, an optimization model based on the organization of productive layouts is proposed, using a methodology based on a genetic algorithm. The obtained results reveal that the optimization model for winery layouts was successfully applied, providing feasible solutions to improve the production processes’ efficiency combined with the minimization of general and ergonomic risks.

Quantum Annealing based factory layout planning

Inadequately planned factory layouts can lead to higher operational costs. The planning process is time-consuming and multiple planning parameters must be considered simultaneously, leading to large solution spaces. Automated planning approaches can support the planning team in the early phases of layout planning by generating layout variants that can afterwards be further specified. Recent studies from other disciplines have shown the potential of Quantum Annealing (QA) to solve complex assignment problems within seconds. Consequently, this paper presents a first implementation of a QA-based layout planning approach and demonstrates its advantages regarding scalability, solution quality, and computing time.

Ergonomics and Organizational Sustainability: A Study of Peacock Paint Limited, Ikot Ekan, Etinan L.G.A Akwa Ibom State

This study investigates the relationship between ergonomics and organizational sustainability. Four specific objectives, four research questions and hypotheses guided the study. The variables under review were work posture, mental workload, new work paradigms and factory layout. The study is restricted to peacock paint limited located at Ikot Ekan, Etinan LGA. Descriptive survey research was employed for the study. The total population of this research study was 308 which comprises of the staff (employers and workers) of peacock paint limited, Ikot Ekan. Etinan LGA. The sample size for this study is 174 determined using Taro Yamani formula. Simple random sampling technique was employed for the study. The information for the research work was collected from primary and secondary sources. The primary source was mainly through questionnaire. The secondary sources involved review of company’s document and literature on ergonomics. The validity of the instrument was ascertained through presenting the instrument to the experts who assessed the suitability of the instrument for measuring the variables under study. To determine the reliability of the instrument, the instrument was presented to group of staff in a factory (Peacock Paint Limited) using a pilot test. Cronbach Alpha was then used to determine the reliability index which gave a value of 0.962. The instrument was then administered to the staff of Peacock Paint Limited. The data was analysed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) to answer the research questions and to test the null hypotheses at 0.5level of significance. Findings of the study show that Work Posture, Mental Workload, New Work Paradigms and factory layout are all related to Organisational Sustainability. It is concluded that there is a relationship between ergonomics and Organizational Sustainability. It is recommended among others that Job rotation as a matter of policy should be practiced by the company. That is, Workplace should be efficiently designed to enable easy interaction between workers and equipment and in support of new work paradigms; the company should consider allowing employees work in shifts. The management of peacock paint limited should take some effective measures to safe guide the health of workers by providing safety tools and equipment.

Ergonomics and Organizational Sustainability: A Study of Peacock Paint Limited, Ikot Ekan, Etinan L.G.A Akwa Ibom State

This study investigates the relationship between ergonomics and organizational sustainability. Four specific objectives, four research questions and hypotheses guided the study. The variables under review were work posture, mental workload, new work paradigms and factory layout. The study is restricted to peacock paint limited located at Ikot Ekan, Etinan LGA. Descriptive survey research was employed for the study. The total population of this research study was 308 which comprises of the staff (employers and workers) of peacock paint limited, Ikot Ekan. Etinan LGA. The sample size for this study is 174 determined using Taro Yamani formula. Simple random sampling technique was employed for the study. The information for the research work was collected from primary and secondary sources. The primary source was mainly through questionnaire. The secondary sources involved review of company’s document and literature on ergonomics. The validity of the instrument was ascertained through presenting the instrument to the experts who assessed the suitability of the instrument for measuring the variables under study. To determine the reliability of the instrument, the instrument was presented to group of staff in a factory (Peacock Paint Limited) using a pilot test. Cronbach Alpha was then used to determine the reliability index which gave a value of 0.962. The instrument was then administered to the staff of Peacock Paint Limited. The data was analysed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) to answer the research questions and to test the null hypotheses at 0.5level of significance. Findings of the study show that Work Posture, Mental Workload, New Work Paradigms and factory layout are all related to Organisational Sustainability. It is concluded that there is a relationship between ergonomics and Organizational Sustainability. It is recommended among others that Job rotation as a matter of policy should be practiced by the company. That is, Workplace should be efficiently designed to enable easy interaction between workers and equipment and in support of new work paradigms; the company should consider allowing employees work in shifts. The management of peacock paint limited should take some effective measures to safe guide the health of workers by providing safety tools and equipment.

Analisis Studi Kelayakan Bisnis Dalam Aspek Produksi


 This article aims to determine the feasibility of a business in Production analysis. In this case the author uses a business feasibility analysis through the production aspect, which means the activities that arise when an idea in a planned business has shown opportunities and illustrates the advantages in terms of marketing. The problem of the production process and the operation process consists of the selection of production strategies, product selection and planning, quality planning, technology selection, production capacity planning, factory layout planning, layout planning, production quantity planning, inventory management and product quality control.
 Keywords: Business Feasibility Study, Production, Production Aspects,

Analisis Studi Kelayakan Bisnis Dalam Aspek Produksi


 This article aims to determine the feasibility of a business in Production analysis. In this case the author uses a business feasibility analysis through the production aspect, which means the activities that arise when an idea in a planned business has shown opportunities and illustrates the advantages in terms of marketing. The problem of the production process and the operation process consists of the selection of production strategies, product selection and planning, quality planning, technology selection, production capacity planning, factory layout planning, layout planning, production quantity planning, inventory management and product quality control.
 Keywords: Business Feasibility Study, Production, Production Aspects,

A Framework for Automated Multiobjective Factory Layout Planning using Reinforcement Learning

Layout planning is a central element of the factory planning process. Given its complexity, layout planning is often time consuming and involves creative processes. One possible way to deal with this complexity is the training of a machine learning algorithm, which enables to generate and optimize factory layouts. Consequently, this paper outlines a reinforcement learning based concept for automated layout planning. In particular, boundary conditions and objective functions are derived from the existing planning parameters of factory layouts. The presented approach will allow a multiobjective optimization of the layout and uses material flow and energy consumption as optimization criteria.

Scalability investigation of Double Deep Q Learning for factory layout planning

Factory layout planning is a recurring and important process since an inadequately planned layout can significantly impede the operation of a factory. A time-efficient and automated planning method is especially important as shortened product lifecycles, changing technologies, and market requirements lead to changes in the production program, which further require the re-planning of the factory layout. Reinforcement learning (RL) has proven to be a suitable approach to support decision-making in complex layout planning problems. However, recent studies only consider comparably small and exemplary problem statements with a maximum of 4 functional units. In consequence, these approaches are insufficient for industrial applications in which numerous functional units are considered. Regarding this background, this paper investigates the scalability of a RL-based planning approach, in which a Double Deep Q Learning agent is used to solve a layout planning task for a small batch production with 20 functional units. Considering that recent approaches lack scalability, this paper presents a new state representation in combination with an action masking method that optimizes the action selection process to ensure the scalability of the approach and reduce the training time. After the training, the algorithm can generate an optimized factory layout by reducing the resulting transportation time for industrial relevant problem sizes.

Digital Twin for automated guided vehicles fleet management

As digital transformation is gaining momentum, nowadays each product is usually accompanied by a software system that can be used to manage it remotely. Automated Guided Vehicles are not an exception and are currently managed by systems that lack features required by the Industry 4.0 digital transformation. The current paper proposes upgrading traditional AGV management systems to have Digital Twins capabilities, stating, and analyzing the benefits of this change. A prototype Industry 4.0 factory with several AGVs is presented together with the current state of an ongoing project for developing Digital Twins for the AGVs. It serves as a shared ecosystem for collaboration to carry out factory layout modelling and enhance the AGV’s control software.

Intelligent Factory Layout Design Framework Through Collaboration between Optimization, Simulation, and Digital Twin

Intelligent Factory Layout Design Framework Through Collaboration between Optimization, Simulation, and Digital Twin

Framework for increasing sustainability of factory systems by generative layout design

The structure of factory systems has a long-term impact on the productivity and performance of production systems. With an increasing relevance of decentral renewable energy sources, factory planning becomes more complex due to an increase of decision criteria and possible solutions, but ecological impacts are also growingly depending on early structure decisions. However, decisions during planning processes in industry are still based on experience, qualitative assessments and discussions. Thus, planning results may not exploit the potential of the available solution space, nor do they allow quantitative traceability of layout configurations.Generative Design (GD) gained popularity in topology optimization and building construction and provides promising opportunities for complex design tasks. Not least with the increasing relevance of Building Information Modeling (BIM) in manufacturing, new methods and technologies for optimization become available to factory planners. Hence, the paper describes options for enhanced decisions in sustainable factory layout planning. Therefore, it provides a quick overview on optimization and GD in layout planning as well as the relation towards BIM and sustainability assessment. Based on this, possible extensions of optimization targets and boundaries towards energy and sustainability-related criteria is elaborated. Afterwards, necessary and potential data acquisition with the openBIM-related Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) is discussed. The paper concludes with an outlook towards further investigations on the overlap of layout design, BIM and sustainability.

Utilization of the Arena simulation software and Lean improvements in the management of metal surface treatment processes

For companies to stand out in increasingly competitive, dynamic and global markets, they must have customer satisfaction goals, create value through their processes, products and services and also aim for innovation. In this context, computer sciences combined with engineering processes constitutes a powerful way for companies to be able to improve process management, to interact with such markets in an efficient and effective way. The main objective of this article is to use Arena simulation software, to quantitatively predict the impact of improvements applied in metal surface treatment processes, based on tools to support Lean thinking. A case study in a Portuguese company in the metalworking sector is presented, in which it is verified that the proposed improvements in terms of the factory layout and resource management, suggested by the comparison between simulations of the current state of the company and the improved one, streamline the processes of finishing in metals, namely zinc coating and lacquering which prevent the occurrence of oxidation and the consequent corrosion of the base metals, by adding other metals and materials to their surface, which adhere and protect it. Through the results obtained, it is concluded that the reduction of waiting times and transport of stocks without production and of work-in-progress, as well as the increase of the productive capacity, make the company more able to guarantee the satisfaction of the requirements of its customers and improve its positioning in the market compared to its competitors.

Evaluation of Materials Flow Optimization and Factory Layout in Digital Factories: A Categorical Imperative in Industrial Engineering

Evaluation of Materials Flow Optimization and Factory Layout in Digital Factories: A Categorical Imperative in Industrial Engineering

Improved dynamic adaptive ant colony optimization algorithm to solve pipe routing design

With the purpose of finding a satisfactory pipe path between the starting point and target point, pipe routing design (PRD) has been applied in many industry fields. The research of two-dimensional PRD is the foundation of solving complex RPD problems, and has widely applications in factory layout, facilities installation, and so on. The ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm is one of the most widely used approaches to solve PRD. However, the traditional ACO has drawbacks such as slow convergence speed, easy to fall into local optimum and low efficiency. In this study, an improved dynamic adaptive ACO (IDAACO) is proposed. The IDAACO includes four novel mechanisms which are the heuristic strategy with direction information, adaptive pseudorandom transfer strategy, improved local pheromone updating mechanism and improved global pheromone updating mechanism. Then, a series of experiments are carried out to verify the effectiveness of the four proposed mechanisms included by IDAACO. Subsequently, the IDAACO is compared with several existing approaches for solving PRD, and the experimental results confirm the advantages of IDAACO in terms of the practicality and high-efficiency. Finally, the IDAACO is used to solve the PRD problem for semi-submersible production platform in oil and gas industry.

PERANCANGAN ULANG TATA LETAK FASILITAS PRODUKSI MENGGUNAKAN METODE ALGORITMA CRAFT PADA PT. SERMANI STEEL MAKASSAR

Factory layout is one of the most important problems in a company, because the arrangement of facilities affects the efficiency and cost of manufacturing products. PT. Sermani Steel of Makassar City is one of the companies engaged in the manufacture or production of zinc-coated steel sheets (Zn) with a production capacity of 3000 tons/year, the problem that occurs is that the layout of related departments is far apart, causing large moving costs. The CRAFT Algorithm method is an improvement program that seeks optimum planning by making improvements in stages with the help of the WinQsb software. The CRAFT algorithm method can describe each department and calculate the Material Handling Cost (OMH) experienced by the product during the production process. Based on the results of research conducted, the cost of moving materials in the initial layout is Rp. 1,636,270,800/year after repairing the layout of the facility, the transfer fee is Rp. 1,467,309,300/year with a difference of Rp. 168,961,500 per year, material transfer costs have decreased by 10% from the initial layout.

Avoiding Covid-19 Using a 3D Digital Mock Up and Augmented Reality with Cobot in Digital Factory

The Fourth Industrial Revolution or Industry 4.0 is extremely relevant and important in manufacturing for several reasons. Failing to adopt the technology of the Fourth Industrial Revolution can cause organizations to fall behind, as their operations are not digitized enough in benchmarking competitors. A major industry as bicycle manufacturing needs to be transformed into a digital factory in order to keep up with the evolving technology. The objectives of this research are in designing a 3D digital mock up and Augmented Reality (AR) for bicycle frame production in the form of digital factory for increasing production capability by decreasing the break-even point whilst avoiding Covid-19 contraction using Tecnomatix Plant Simulation and Unity 3D programs. This research constructed three alternative digital factory layouts that are designed by using a 3D simulation program. The risk of Covid-19 contraction points and the three layouts of cost per unit are analyzed. The results show that the break-even point of the first to the third layouts with Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) are 26,580, 26,322 and 25,354 units respectively. The result of the risk about Covid-19 contraction points from the first to the third layout with AGV are 21,272, 2,872 and 0 points respectively. This means the most appropriate layout for bicycle frame production is the third layout due to the best break-even point that can significantly avoid Covid-19 contraction. The benefit of this research is to integrate a 3D digital mock up, AR and Cobot including AGV to assist the resilience of operations with a dynamic industrial environment.

Fields of action towards automated facility layout design and optimization in factory planning – A systematic literature review

In order to develop and establish a functional, integrated system for automated layout design that can be applied in practice, certain fields of action still need to be identified and solved. For this purpose, a systematic literature review is used to identify fields of action on the way to automated factory layout design and to derive recommendations for action. As a result, the need for action was identified in the areas of multicriteria optimization, the layout evaluation and selection process, the existing implemented algorithms and in the integration of the human planner. To make qualitative target criteria machine-interpretable was identified as the most important next step.