Simulation analysis of a fabrication process of a tannery: Case study of a Latin American company

Abstract

A large number of real-life optimization problems in economics and business are complex and difficult to solve. Among the solutions techniques available in the Management Science, Discrete-Event computer Simulation (DES) can be considered as one of the most preferred by practitioners. DES has been used as an analysis tool to evaluate new production system concepts, and has also been used in the operation and planning of manufacturing facilities. In this paper, we propose to apply DES for the analysis of a leather manufacturing facility. The objective is to analyze the current performance of the production system in order to propose alternatives for improvement, as well as optimum parameters for production. Results obtained showed the advantages of using such a quantitative decision-aid technique by capturing most of the complex characteristics of the production process.