Factory Layout Research Articles

Prototyping installation and commissioning of novel a cleaning robot by using virtual tools – lessons learned

This paper presents a simulation study in which virtual product development tools are used to support the design of a novel robotic cleaning solution for fish processing facilities. The installation and commissioning of complex equipment in these facilities are challenging owing to the unavailability of accurate spatial data of the facilities; this generally results in delays. Delays causing unplanned stops are particularly undesirable in fish processing plants because processing facilities produce fish five days a week throughout the year. In this study, virtual tools such as 3D-CAD and 3D-scanning are utilized in product development processes to develop virtual factory layouts; these are used for simulation. These virtual tools are aimed at reducing delays during installation and commissioning of complex products in fish processing plants. The results reveal that the application of 3D-scanning and simulation technology in virtual factory layouts can reduce the installation and commissioning time for retrofitting manufacturing equipment, which are important aspects for reducing the risk of bacterial contamination in fish processing facilities. The results also reveal that virtual factory layouts, 3D-scanning, and simulation may enable further research in fish processing facilities, e.g., simulating new fish processing concepts without intervention in operational fish processing plants. Simulation and 3D-scan data aids product development processes by reducing time and uncertainty and by discovering design errors at an early stage.

Implementation of Reconfigurable Manufacturing in the Italian Context: State-of-the-Art and Trends

The dynamic market demand, the short product life cycles, the need for flexibility and the increased variety of customized products force industrial companies to explore the idea of moving towards new classes of manufacturing paradigms. Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems (RMSs) meet such current challenges through the rapid change of their physical and logical structures in response to the market requirements. However, the introduction of such systems requires high initial investments that provide returns in the mid/long-term affecting the manufacturing performances during the ramp-up and the production periods. Current literature provides few contributions on the assessment of RMS potential, especially for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). This paper revises the state-of-the-art and trends about the implementation of reconfigurable manufacturing looking at the Italian context, characterized by 88% of SMEs with low/mid-volume manufacturing and high product variety. Evidences show that the introduction of reconfigurable manufacturing positively affects SMEs production performances especially at the work-station level and it effectively addresses the increased product variety as well as the introduction of new products. Finally, the “learning factory” concept is explored as solution to link Academia and Industry to spread the culture of innovation and advanced manufacturing to students, large enterprises and SMEs for research, training and education in manufacturing. Relevant existing “learning factories” for reconfigurability, production and factory layout planning are reviewed and their value in spreading the culture of manufacturing innovation is highlighted.

ANALISIS KELAYAKAN ASPEK TEKNIS INDUSTRI PENGOLAHAN BIOFARMAKA BERBAHAN BAKU BAWANG TIWAI

<p><em>From Latin </em><em>Eleutherina American L. Merr</em><em>, tiwai onion is one of species of flowering and bulbous plants in Borneo forest that can be developed as biopharmaceutical source for industrial scale. Tiwai onion beverage product is a product that has the benefits of tiwai onion plant in the tea bag form. Industrial development of tiwai onion processing into a tea bag product in UKM Solaindo still has many technical constraints. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct a research which aims to design technical aspect to ensure a smooth production process of tiwai onion tea. This research is expected to overcome the technical constraints faced by UKM Solaindo, so that tiwai onion product into a tea bag product in UKM Solaindo could get bigger and get increased to fulfill the market needs and also to become a competitive local product. Technical aspects examined include determining a factory location, production capacity, machinery and equipment, and factory facility layout. Determining a factory location using qualitative method (ranking procedure) determined that Tenggarong is the best location to establish an industrial factory of tiwai onion with the total score of 15.90. Production capacity is conducted by demand forecasting using </em><em>weighted moving average</em><em> method, and forecasting value obtained is </em><em>618 unit</em><em>s</em><em>/</em><em>month</em><em> </em><em>or </em><em>66,74 Kg/</em><em>month</em><em>.</em><em> Machinery and equipment used for production process from the factory that will be set up in every process are tray, automatic sealer machine, washing machine, oven, chopping machine, stamping equipment, and sealer machine. The most appropriate scoring systems for factory facility layout are ARC, ARD, SRD, and AAD that have 10 facilities such as administration room facilities with area of </em><em>80 m<sup>2</sup></em><em>, production facilities </em><em>37,5 m<sup>2</sup></em><em>, shipping facilities </em><em>7,5 m<sup>2</sup>, </em><em>material warehouse facilities</em><em> 15 m<sup>2</sup>, </em><em>finished product warehouse facilities </em><em>17,5 m<sup>2</sup>, </em><em>reception facilities </em><em>7,5 m<sup>2</sup>, </em><em>quality control facilities </em><em>12 m<sup>2</sup>, </em><em>power plants facilities</em><em> 6 m<sup>2</sup>, </em><em>waste shelter facilities</em><em> </em><em>4</em><em> m<sup>2</sup>, </em><em>and parking facilities </em><em>60 m<sup>2</sup>.</em><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><strong><em>Key-words: Factory layout, machine, production capacity, ranking Procedure, tiwai onions </em></strong></p>

Cost-Efficient Deployment of Fog Computing Systems at Logistics Centers in Industry 4.0

In Industry 4.0, the factories become increasingly smart and efficient through intelligent cyber-physical systems based on the deployment of Internet of Things (IoT), mobile devices, and cloud computing systems. In practice, the cloud computing system in a factory is managed in a centralized way, and hence may not afford heavy computing loads from thousands of IoT devices in the factory. An approach to address this issue is to deploy fog/edge computing resources nearby IoT devices in a distributed way to provide real-time computing responses on sites. This paper investigates deployment of an intelligent computing system consisting of a cloud center, gateways, fog devices, edge devices, and sensors attached to facilities in a logistics center. Except for locations of the cloud center and sensors that have been determined based on the factory layout, this paper establishes an integer programing model for deploying gateways, fog devices, edge devices in their respective potential sites, so that the total installation cost is minimized, under the constraints of maximal demand capacity, maximal latency time, coverage, and maximal capacity of devices. This paper further solves this NP-hard facility location problem by a metaheuristic algorithm that incorporates discrete monkey algorithm to search for good quality solutions and genetic algorithm to increase computational efficiency. Simulation verifies high performance of the proposed algorithm in deployment of intelligent computing systems in moderate-scale instances of intelligent logistics centers.

Web-Based Visualization of 3D Factory Layout from Hybrid Modeling of CAD and Point Cloud on Virtual Globe DTX Solution

Web-Based Visualization of 3D Factory Layout from Hybrid Modeling of CAD and Point Cloud on Virtual Globe DTX Solution

Sound insulation design improvement for reducing noise of paper factory office

Noise exposure in industrial building such us a paper production factory can be harmful for the employees whom are working in the outdoor area as well as in the offices. Some employees that are working in the open-plan office area in this factory layout are complaining about the noise produced by machines. The noise produced from the machines makes them hard to focus on their jobs. It is found that the closest noise source position from the office produces 79 dBA while the noise level of 54 dBA is present in the office. To deal with this situation, a noise mapping was done using Sound Level Meter (SLM) for measurement. The noise mapping can help for noise assessment to know the noise distribution in the factory that give an impact to office. The Transmission Loss (TL) of the office walls was evaluated by measuring the noise level spectrum inside and outside of the office, while T30 (reverberation time) values were also measured to obtain for room absorption assessment as it affects the TL values. These two parameters used to obtain the Sound Transmission Class (STC). It also enables to systematically predict the sound insulation improvement of the offices particularly as a basis to choose suitable material and wall construction. In this research, INSUL software is utilized to calculate the TL of the proposed wall design. The result shows that improvement of existing partition insulation using double glazing laminated glass and gypsum can meet the preferable noise level inside of the office that is 38 dBA using the new STC value of 23.

Routing Driverless Transport Vehicles in Car Assembly with Answer Set Programming

AbstractAutomated storage and retrieval systems are principal components of modern production and warehouse facilities. In particular, automated guided vehicles nowadays substitute human-operated pallet trucks in transporting production materials between storage locations and assembly stations. While low-level control systems take care of navigating such driverless vehicles along programmed routes and avoid collisions even under unforeseen circumstances, in the common case of multiple vehicles sharing the same operation area, the problem remains how to set up routes such that a collection of transport tasks is accomplished most effectively. We address this prevalent problem in the context of car assembly at Mercedes-Benz Ludwigsfelde GmbH, a large-scale producer of commercial vehicles, where routes for automated guided vehicles used in the production process have traditionally been hand-coded by human engineers. Such ad-hoc methods may suffice as long as a running production process remains in place, while any change in the factory layout or production targets necessitates tedious manual reconfiguration, not to mention the missing portability between different production plants. Unlike this, we propose a declarative approach based on Answer Set Programming to optimize the routes taken by automated guided vehicles for accomplishing transport tasks. The advantages include a transparent and executable problem formalization, provable optimality of routes relative to objective criteria, as well as elaboration tolerance towards particular factory layouts and production targets. Moreover, we demonstrate that our approach is efficient enough to deal with the transport tasks evolving in realistic production processes at the car factory of Mercedes-Benz Ludwigsfelde GmbH.

BIO-INSPIRED FACTORY LAYOUTS: A MORPHOLOGICAL APPROACH FOR INVESTIGATING DESIGN CRITERIA

Common factory layouts design is focused on the characteristics of products, their corresponding production processes and the type of company. Thus, factory layout planning seeks to arrange individual organizational resources in a defined area, based on the optimization of transport costs. Moreover, living systems found in the nature are confronted with similar logistical problems. Literature in this regard has shown, that living systems have the ability to cope with short- and long-term changes. Hence, the main question arising from the described problematic is: which criteria should be considered for developing bio-inspired layouts. Consequently, this paper explores new efficient approaches for factory and material flow planning, using biomimetics, which combines the disciplines of biology and technology with the goal of solving technical problems. A literature review is conducted to acknowledge nature principles associated to logistic problems analyzing their ability to increase efficiency and flexibility in factory layouts. By means of a morphological analysis, different criteria and characteristics relevant for companies willing to adopt a bio-inspired layout are analyzed. Finally, preliminary results indicate that biological principles and structures, e.g. nautilus shell, help to improve the allocation of organizational resources in factory layouts. Further findings show that bio-inspired layouts are more suitable for intermitted material flow, rather than for continuous material flow.

SCENARIO PRIORITIZATION FOR AUTOMOTIVE ASSEMBLY SYSTEM SIMULATION: AN APPROACH BASED ON AHP

Simulation methods that strive to faithfully depict possible models of the actual reality faced are increasingly used in industries. Designing scenarios, defining plans and strategies, making decisions based on situations presented by models currently are important facilitators enabled by simulations. In contrast, problems with complex models require deeper studies that may result in failure to identify effective solutions using only this tool. One proposal to provide more assertive solutions is the use of simulations linked to decision support methods. Based on criteria of relevance, these methods can perform pairwise comparisons among the alternatives identified in the problem statement. In addition, these work with the execution of multi-criteria analyzes at the same time, helping in decision-making and also in prioritizing needs / actions. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the applicability of the AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) decision making method for the purpose of prioritizing and directing efforts in possible solutions identified for the problem. The case study chosen is in an automotive assembly plant where the rising interaction between Logistics and Assembly workstations results in the need for complex, multi-variable decisions (sizing of packages, number of operators allocated, takt time/line speed, process type definition, ergonomic issues, among others). After defining the priority criteria, a simulation is developed to present the scenario and behaviors indicated by AHP that the production line being studied can apply. The conclusions offer a discussion of the decisions made by deploying the method and of the scenario depicted. This paper presents the formulation of a model for the development of factory layouts, including the effective contributions that can be achieved through the deployment of decision support aids in prioritizing criteria linked to the scenario simulations with positive outcomes on problems of the manufacturing sector.

Elaboration and analysis of key figure-based approaches for the efficiency assessment of traditional and bio-inspired factory layouts

Most factory layouts based on stable markets. Companies usually do not consider further development or growth processes, which leads to inefficiencies. Literature reviews have shown, that living systems have the ability to efficiently and flexibly cope with short- and long-term changes. Consequently, this paper shows firstly, as an overview of own studies, new efficient approaches as examples for factory and material flow planning, using biomimetics. Secondly and as the focus of the paper, approaches for the efficiency measurement and assessment are analyzed and examined for their suitability to the context of different factory layouts and their material flows. Based on these results, traditional and bio-inspired factory layouts should be comparable in terms of their efficiency figures.

Virtual factory layouts from 3D laser scanning – A novel framework to define solid model requirements

In a world with increasing customer demands, manufacturing companies must develop and produce products more rapidly and adapt their production systems offline, to not disturb the ongoing processes. This creates a demand of using digital production development so that development can be performed in parallel with production. Virtual factory layouts (VFLs) are essential for companies in order to plan their factory layout and evaluate production scenarios. However, requirements for a VFL depends heavily on its purpose. For example, the requirements on a model for offline programming of robots are different from those on a model used to determine buffer locations. There is currently a lack of clear guidelines for how developed a VFL should be to fulfil said requirements, which contributes to unnecessary modelling time and variation in delivery quality.This paper aims to put the actual demands and requirements of a VFL in focus. By adapting a Level of Development-framework for establishment of Building Information Models (BIMs) and connecting it to the purpose of VFLs, development of a framework for detail and functionality level of VFLs is enabled. Such a purpose-oriented framework will help to define delivery packages suited for different circumstances, which will provide the modeler with knowledge of how much detail and functionality a specific model should contain.The increased clarity provided by the developed framework results in a clearer connection between expected result and actual output from a custom VFL project. Also, by connecting model properties or development to the model-purpose, the framework brings clarity and structure to a currently vague field. This provides means for a more efficient and accurate use of VFLs, which will support the rapid development of production facilities.

Implications of agile manufacturing in the automotive industry for order management in the factories-evidence from the practitioner’s perspective

Agile manufacturing in the automotive industry increases customer orientation and allows a faster reaction to changing market conditions, but it also complicates the task of sequencing and scheduling orders for production in the factories. This paper provides empirical data about the constraints under which sequencing and scheduling takes place. Based on a formal model in generic terms, it describes order volumes, factory layouts, production efforts and types of quality criteria which are frequently used in practice. It shows that extant algorithmic solution approaches are still applicable under such condition, but need to be reinterpreted regarding their role in the process.

Modelling and simulation of discrete manufacturing industry

This paper focuses on discrete event simulation of a manufacturing unit using ARENA software. The simulation was carried out with an objective to study the flow of aluminium brake brackets in the factory and find out the bottlenecks and also to calculate the productivity and workforce requirements in the unit. The process flow chart of the aluminium bracket was drawn and processing time of each process was calculated using ARENA input analyzer tool and then fed into the software and simulated. For optimization of the results the other tools available in arena like Process Analyzer (PAN) and Opt Quest were used. The bottlenecks were found and a better model was suggested in order to overcome them. In the new (suggested) model, the productivity was found to have increased by 6% and the workforce requirements decreased by 8.33% when compared with the existing (actual) factory model. The method followed in this paper can be used to design process as well as factory layouts for better efficiency of workforces, to achieve optimal productivity and better use of resources.

A novel tool for optimization and verification of layout and human logistics in digital factories

We introduce a novel digital factory layout tool that optimizes both the layout of machines and the corresponding ergonomic logistics considering space constraints. A model is constructed by tangible properties on machines and environment, regions on the floor and by ranking their mutual relations. An optimized layout is then computed based on the model, the relations and an ergonomic score for the human work tasks, which are automatically computed by digital manikins. The result is an optimized layout, visualized in 3D, with improved logistic routes. The layout tool has been implemented and successfully tested on a relevant industrial case.

Design and Simulation Plant Layout Using Systematic Layout Planning

This research aims to design the factory layout of PT. Gunaprima Budiwijaya in order to increase production capacity. The problem faced by this company is inappropriate layout causes cross traffic on the production floor. The re-layout procedure consist of these three steps: analysing the existing layout, designing plant layout based on SLP and evaluation and selection of alternative layout using Simulation Pro model version 6. Systematic layout planning is used to re-layout not based on the initial layout. This SLP produces four layout alternatives, and each alternative will be evaluated based on two criteria, namely cost of material handling using Material Handling Evaluation Sheet (MHES) and processing time by simulation. The results showed that production capacity is increasing as much as 37.5% with the addition of the machine and the operator, while material handling cost was reduced by improvement of the layout. The use of systematic layout planning method reduces material handling cost of 10,98% from initial layout or amounting to Rp1.229.813,34.

Analytics at Lie-Nielsen Toolworks: Custom-built Data Tools for a Unique Small Manufacturer

Lie-Nielsen Toolworks (LNT) is a small, family-owned company manufacturing very-high-quality woodworking tools in coastal Maine. They face three major challenges: the sparse rural labor market makes it difficult to find and retain talent; their extreme quality standards lead to scrap and rework; they struggle to forecast demand and schedule production due in part to offering a large number of SKUs in small quantities. Having reorganized the factory layout and upgraded its CNC machines over the past two years, LNT is now turning to information systems and analytics as tools for improvement. Advised by an internal IT staff of one, an external ERP partner, and a consultant from the state university, Tom Lie-Nielsen must decide how to approach these information technologies, what benefits he can expect, and what organizational changes might be necessary to effectively leverage them.

Ensemble Visualization of Bottlenecks in Planar Flow Networks

The problem of finding bottlenecks in flow networks often appears in real world applicationslike production planning, factory layout, flow related physical approaches and even cyber security. This work introduces intuitive visual mechanisms to enable domain experts and users to visually analyzestable regions of a network and identify critical transitions. Those transitions form a varyingbottleneck front for different configurations of network restraints. To tackle this problem, this workenhances the comparability of different network configurations by utilizing ensemble visualizationtechniques. The effectiveness of this approach is demonstrated by showing how this enables users toevaluate the progress of different bottlenecks and individual regions in a flow network.

Signatures factory: a dynamic alternative for teaching - learning layout concepts and waste disposal

Abstract The use of games and simulation has now spread as a teaching support tool of engineering. This article aims to discuss this reality and this need, presenting as proposed a didactic game in a signature’s factory. From this, it was suggested that the participants involved modify the simulated factory environment through the knowledge acquired during the factory design discipline and layout. Various topics related to Production Engineering were addressed, such as layout, Takt time (TT), standardization of processes, elimination of waste and activities that add / do not add value. As a result, it was possible to see, among many things, the significant improvement in the understanding and assimilation of theoretical concepts by the participants. With the practice of simulation one can demonstrate and experience possible cases and difficulties they face on a daily basis within the factory environment.

Parallel Self-Assembly of Polyominoes under Uniform Control Inputs

We present fundamental progress on parallel self-assembly using large swarms of microscale particles in complex environments, controlled not by individual navigation, but by a uniform, global, external force with the same effect on each particle. Consider a 2-D grid world, in which all obstacles and particles are unit squares, and for each actuation, particles move maximally until they collide with an obstacle or another particle. We present algorithms that, given an arbitrary 2-D structure, design an obstacle layout. When actuated, this layout generates copies of the input 2-D structure. We analyze the movement and spatial complexity of the factory layouts. We present hardware results on both a macroscale, gravity-based system, and a microscale, magnetically actuated system.

Human-robot Collaboration in Decentralized Manufacturing Systems: An Approach for Simulation-based Evaluation of Future Intelligent Production

The development towards decentralized manufacturing systems aims at increased flexibility and robustness by maintaining the level of productivity. In order to meet these requirements, human-robot collaboration is considered as basic framework within future intelligent manufacturing cells. For industrial implementation, the concepts of smart production need to be refined and their benefits have to be quantified. This paper introduces concepts for the design of decentralized manufacturing systems and a detailed simulation-based approach for evaluating the performance of the system. Particularly, the relationships between factory layout planning, production scheduling, and human-robot work distribution are investigated.