Simulation of flow lines in clothing manufacture. Part 1: model construction

Abstract

Presents research into the improvement of flow‐line assembly systems. Aims to understand and improve the design and control of manually intensive flow‐line assembly in the clothing industry. A simulation model of the progressive bundle system has been constructed, incorporating operator performance variations and learning effects, machine failure and repair, operator absenteeism, quality failure and supervisory control. While the operator performance data and the stochastic variables are handled satisfactorily within the simulation, the problems of control are not handled well by conventional discrete event modelling techniques. Adopts a knowledge‐based approach to control in which an online computerized supervisor exercises control over the execution of the simulation run. Complex system models are not easy to validate and a four‐stage approach is used to demonstrate conformance with real‐world systems: qualification; face validity; modular validation; and time‐series system behaviour. Discusses applications of the model and the results of experiments with a line starting work on a new style.

A simulation study of despatch bay performance in the steel processing industry

“…In a broader context, Fozzard et al (1996) incorporate operator performance variations and learning effects, operator absenteeism and knowledge-based supervisory control into their simulation of flows line in clothing manufacture. Back and Bell (1995) examine the application of simulation to re-engineer the materials-management process (including materialrequirement planning, purchasing, field material control and accounts payable) in the engineering construction industry.…”

Optimizing apparel production systems using genetic algorithms

“…Line balancing control is required to smooth away the bottlenecks. The line balancing problem is one of the most traditional problems which evolved from the concept of division of labour (Smith, 1776) and became popular because of Henry Ford's famous 'T-model' (Ford et al ., 1923). Despite its long history of development, line-balancing study is still an attractive research topic nowadays due to its relevancy to everyday industry manufacturing and the diversity in system confi gurations.…”

WIPA: neural network and case base reasoning models for allocating work in progress

“…The Sewn Product Industry (SPI) (Fozzard et al 1996) is a labor-intensive manufacturing industry where production runs may be short or long and tasks within product categories maybe simple or complex and of such a potential variety that not all workers on a production line will have the skills necessary to produce products that satisfy the order requirements in terms of time, quantity, or quality. Such planning for the optimal efficiency of assembly lines, an optimally scheduled work flow, is a type of combinatorial optimization problem commonly referred to as the Assembly Line Balance (ALB) (Ounar and Pujo 2009;Sabuncuoglu et al 2000) problem or the problem of allocating Work In Progress (WIP).…”