Synergy of Process and Production Planning by Discrete Simulation in Manufacturing

The survival and growth of businesses in today's market is based on constant innovation and new product development. Business innovation must take place at all levels, from products, processes to the organization itself, in order to bring about improvements in competitiveness and business efficiency. Furthermore, the number of different components of many products, and, consequently, the demands for the appropriate manufacturing processes and operations, have also increased manifold. We can respond to such demands and manage the appropriate tools to simulate the activities and processes within the factory in the virtual world. The simulation of the entire flow of materials, including all significant activities of production, storage and transportation are key requirements for quality production planning and the necessary manufacturing processes. Discrete simulations, i.e. the applications used for running this type of simulation provide the possibility of creating different scenarios concerning cases of different production parameters, the burden of production capacities, as well as their delays and failures. A further step in the development of the simulation model is the creation of a genetic algorithm for the purpose of minimizing costs and delivery times of products.