An Innovative Framework for the Simulation of Manufacturing Systems: An Application to the Footwear Industry

Simulation in industrial environments has been recognized as a valuable approach for capturing the different characteristics and complexity of the dynamics in industrial processes. However, there is a clear need for spreading the use of simulation tools in manufacturing companies and for simplifying the simulation modeling process. In fact this process is still highly demanding in terms of the specific skills of the modelers and in terms of the time needed to develop models that are effectively useful in actual manufacturing systems. The slow modeling process often precludes the use of simulation for facing the operational problems that rise in the day-to-day operations. This paper presents a brief overview of the use of simulation tools in manufacturing, and focus on the development of an innovative simulation framework based on libraries of components and modules. This framework will contribute for reducing the learning curve in developing simulation models for manufacturing and logistics systems. The requirements and advantages of this novel modular modeling approach are presented and discussed in the context of a case study that uses the SIMIO software for simulating the production and logistics systems of a generic footwear manufacturing system in Portugal.

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