Use of workload control in production planning and control: modeling on a simulation software

Abstract

This paper aims at presenting a structure of implementation of the Workload Control (WLC) approach on a commercial discrete event simulation software by comprehensively demonstrating how to construct and simulate this approach. This research was developed considering the lack of studies fully describing this implementation on this kind of software, which hinders the dissemination and use of the WLC approach by managers. Initially, the logic was developed on a dedicated and structured language and then converted to the simulation software. A detailed description of the WLC implementation contributes to the business domain by facilitating its replication and application in other manufacturing environments, reducing the project time needed to develop the base model and allowing managers and/or researchers to focus directly on the adjustments of the model to the environment being modeled. In the academic domain, this paper addresses a gap in the WLC literature concerning the lack of tutorials for simulation and the lack of information, in the existing papers, regarding the development of the computational model.