Modeling and Simulation of Automated Manufacturing Processes

Abstract Increasing automation of the manufacturing process including automated information and material-flow causes increasing complexity of manufacturing systems. In particular automation of small batch production is very complicated, as the task of automation is combined with the need for flexibility. This paper describes modeling and simulation of a production system for small batch size metalworking production with high automation and high flexibility including the aspect of stochas tic technical downtimes of the machine tools. Digital simulation with an abstract system model and computerized evaluation is used as a feasible method for planning complex production systems.