Automotive Supplier of L and R Parts

This is an example of a simulation model of the complete operations at one automotive supplier factory, which produces certain parts for left and right side driven cars. The processes represented in the model together with main data and material flows are shown schematically in the figure below.

Simulation model

The “what if” questions

The model provides the tactical and strategic answers to multiple “what if” questions. Some of them are listed below:

• What is the most economical mixture of JIS (just in sequence) and batch demand for a number of separate clients? Some clients order daily according to JIS, other ones request a number of certain batches every week, without enforcing a particular sequence.
• Will the clients receive the required products in the right time? What are the typical delays and why do they take place?
• How much of each material type will reside in the material warehouse? How much material should be stored in the warehouse to allow continuous production?
• Should the ramp at the material warehouse be expanded? Currently only 3 trucks can stay at once at the material warehouse ramp, the other ones wait on a parking place. When there is no material of some type then one of the trucks at the ramp is unloaded. Only then another truck with the requested material can approach the ramp.
• Will the material warehouse require less capacity if the material suppliers load the trucks according to the approximated production plan?
• How many final products will reside in the final product warehouse? The products are preferably manufactured in the right sequence and put directly onto the destination truck, so they should not take any space in the warehouse. But it is not always possible that way, because of failures and production specific requirements. Thus, the not in sequence parts are stored temporarily in the warehouse. The calculations include safety stock too.
• What are the resulting production capacity and throughput, for both left and right side parts in the production shop floor? Will any layout optimisation or improvement to the machine performance bring any significant gains?