Redesigning the Production Process Using Simulation for Sustainable Development of the Enterprise

Abstract

In this case study, the medium-sized enterprise is looking for ways to achieve sustainable development. Following the Industry 4.0 trend could get the enterprise closer. The rate of information technology usage is very low in the enterprise. The enterprise’s problem is the long production of orders. The orders had to be rejected many times because the customer’s time limit could not be met. The major cause seems to be two environmentally insufficient and obsolete machines in the blast cleaning operation. These machines are replaced in the production by one new wheel blast machine. However, the production process must be redesigned and the layout changed to use this machine effectively. This redesign is difficult to verify and evaluate in the pilot plant experiment. Simulation is the most suitable tool to do it quickly and relatively easily. The ExtendSim simulation program creates a real production process model and then applies the redesign of this process in the model. The model must be thoroughly verified concerning the real production process to not distort the results. The result of the redesign of the production process is the reduction of the production duration by almost 50% and elimination of two environmentally insufficient and obsolete machines. Improved machine blast cleaning has also significantly reduced the utilization of blast cleaning. Spared capacities can be used for pre-production or otherwise for the profit-making of the enterprise. However, a new bottleneck appeared elsewhere in the production process by removing the previous one. The innovation passed through barriers, and Slovak small and medium enterprises started building sustainable development. The enterprise still must focus on further innovation, and more investment will be needed to achieve the final sustainable development goal.

Creation of Tools for the Development of the Enterprise - Subject of Zed

“…A fundamentally different approach to enterprise development is presented in (Ondov et al, 2022). It envisions development through optimization of internal production processes based on mathematical modeling.…”

“…It envisions development through optimization of internal production processes based on mathematical modeling. The strengths of the approach in (Ondov et al, 2022) include mathematical validation of processes and step-by-step verification. However, unresolved issues remain regarding its adaptation to other enterprises and the conditions of their activities.…”

Determining the Level of Use of the Industry 4.0 Solutions in the COVID-19 Pandemic Era: Results of Empirical Research

“…The literature shows the diversity of Industry 4.0 technologies. This collection includes, among others, (1) big data and analytics [20][21][22][23], (2) autonomous robots [24], (3) simulations [25][26][27][28][29][30], (4) horizontal and vertical system integration [31,32], (5) Internet of Things-IoT [31], (6) cyber-security [33,34], (7) the cloud, (8) additive manufacturing, (9) augmented reality, (10) artificial intelligence [35], (11) mobile technologies, and (12) RFID and RTLS technologies [12,30,[36][37][38][39][40][41][42]. Each solution could be independently implemented as a separate project for the organisation.…”

Simulation of material flow using vertical transport by a double-action mine hoist

“…This simulation system combines discrete and continuous simulation capabilities and is a popular simulation tool for PC_MS Windows and Macintosh computers. This tool was used by several authors in simulations in various fields [9,11,12].…”