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The purpose of this paper is to provide simulation modelling for bulk arrival bulk service queueing system involved in a textile industry and analyze the performance metrics.

This paper describes the simulation modelling of a bulk queueing system with limited number of admissions and multiple vacations. The model is developed for the proposed queueing system using Flexsim 2017, and it is explained through an application observed in a textile industry involving the process of cone winding.

In this paper, the simulation model has been developed to study the behaviour of queues at different resources in a production system. Various performance measures such as average components, average waiting time, total number of inputs and outputs, processing time and idle time involved in a textile industry are evaluated using simulation and justified through numerical illustration.

The proposed simulation model may be used in various scenarios wherever a real time situation exists related to bulk queueing system. The results produced in this paper can be used by the manufacturing industries to enhance the need-based accuracy. It is worth pointing out that the findings are of direct practical relevance and can be successfully used for a number of industrial applications.

The approach suggested in this paper attempts to deal with the queueing system involved in a textile industry and provides numerical results in less time with less computer resources. It provides a reasonably good approximation for simple and complex queueing models where it is difficult to find closed form of theoretical results.

In traditional point‐of‐sale (POS) systems, an in‐house database server processes all sales transactions it receives from local client computers. Such systems incur high costs because of operational requirements, such as professional maintenance, the sophisticated server hardware required, and scalability requirements. For small retailers that want to use POS systems but have relatively limited financial resources, these expensive operational requirements are big obstacles. Considering these issues, the purpose of this paper is to suggest a POS system that is adequate for small businesses.

Using a simulation method, the authors tested and compared the operational performance of POS systems in two different environments, i.e. the remote server‐client environment and the local server‐client environment.

One possible solution is for a group of small retailers to use a shared, remote database server, but such servers often have reliability and performance issues. To resolve these issues, the authors suggest a POS system that utilizes local data tables embedded in each client's computer. This system consists of a remote database server and a group of client POS computers with off‐line data‐handling capabilities. The results indicated that it is possible for small businesses to obtain significant benefits from an affordable POS system based on a remote client‐server model that utilizes a local data cache.

The results of this study indicated that small businesses may obtain significant benefit from the affordable POS systems based on a remote client‐server model that utilizes a local data cache.

The literature lacks studies on small businesses' accessibility to POS systems. The study fills this literature gap and shows a technological solution to provide affordable POS systems to small businesses, which have not been paid much attention by POS vendors.

Materials supply is one of the important elements in construction operation and a major factor affecting the quality of construction projects. Many industries look to manage materials effectively by attempting to integrate logistics processes into logistics chains of suppliers and customers. Logistics processes, being crucial for successful completion of construction projects, but in fact, auxiliary, are often entrusted to external professionals specialised in logistic services, such as logistics centres. However, this tendency is yet to be developed in construction. The purpose of this paper is to develop a simulation framework for the examination of potential improvements of logistics performance using logistics centres.

A case study approach was adopted with computer simulation using Flexsim. Data of vehicle movements were collected during construction on-site from the start of construction to “hand-over” to the building owner.

The ideal location of a logistics centre is identified using vehicle movements data collected on the site. The potential improvements of the planned centre are then evaluated by simulating various scenarios of vehicle movements. The enclosed results from the simulations indicate that using a logistics centre will reduce waste for the construction project considered.

The paper emphasises that creating a logistics centre for a project can improve construction logistics performance, by consolidating and optimizing both off-site and on-site logistics, especially when the site condition is prohibitive (small footprint with limited loading bay area). Establishing logistics centres may help find ways of making the overall construction project more effective by improving the management of materials.

The purpose of this paper is to cover the significance of lean thinking using value stream mapping and six sigma methodology in managing industrial operations.

Lean manufacturing is an efficient approach for identifying and eliminating waste through a continuous improvement via flow of the product/service at the pull of customer in chase of exactness. This study has been carried out in a manufacturing unit of Northern India that was suffering from high production lead time and work in progress (WIP) inventory.

The current state and future state maps for the critical product have been prepared. On comparison of both current and future state maps, it was observed that lead time has been reduced by 14.88 percent, processing time by 14.71 percent and wastage of material movement by 37.97 percent. As proposed in model, the WIP inventories have been reduced by 17.76 percent and workforce by 17.64 percent. Further it would lead to the profit of Rs161,800 per annum. Six sigma projects have been carried out to reduce rejections of the critical product P-19 under study. The total length of the product was undersize of the critical product. Root cause analysis technique has been used through strategic DMAIC implementation. Results of investigation demonstrated net savings of rupees 145,560 annually.

The paper demonstrates the practical application of lean thinking, showing how it can bring real breakthroughs in saving cost in the manufacturing industry.

This study explores the impact of new technologies, such as simulation and virtual reality, on the pedagogy and learning of engineering students. It aims to compare the effectiveness of these digital tools against traditional teaching methods in enhancing student learning experiences.

Utilizing a quantitative research approach, the study involved third-year engineering students from the “Production Management” course at the School of Engineering of Vitoria-Gasteiz. Data were collected through an ad hoc questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS software, focusing on student satisfaction, challenges in adopting new technologies and the evolving roles of students and teachers.

The research highlighted several key aspects. Firstly, it identified the need for adapting teaching methods to incorporate new technologies effectively. Secondly, the integration of simulation and virtual reality was found to facilitate a deeper understanding of real-world problems, as students could engage with these issues in a simulated, virtual environment. Finally, the study emphasized the importance of pedagogical approaches that leverage these technologies to increase student involvement and motivation. The results suggest a positive impact of digital tools on the learning process in engineering education.

The study’s scope was limited to one course within a single institution, suggesting the need for broader research across various disciplines and educational settings.

This research offers valuable insights into the integration of simulation and virtual reality in engineering education, underscoring their potential to enhance the learning experience and knowledge acquisition among students.

This study aims to propose a decision support system (DSS) that performs a decision-based part-fixture assignment and fixture flow control in planned production periods.

The principal approaches were fuzzy case-based reasoning (FCBR) and discrete-event simulation (DES). Besides, the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP), an object-oriented (OO) method and a fuzzy weighted Euclidean distance were used to support the decision-making process.

It shows that integrating FCBR and DES systems is a promising approach to address part-fixture planning problems. The FCBR subsystem proposed various stable numbers of fixtures as scenarios. The DES model analyzed the future performances of these scenarios and identified the best alternative.

The DSS was tested in laboratory environments using a numerical analysis; however, it was not validated in industrial situations.

The synergy of integrating FCBR and DES systems was not exploited in the past in part-fixture assignment and fixture flow control problems.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the integration of discrete event simulation (DES) and value stream mapping (VSM) to enhance the productivity of road surfacing operations by achieving high production rates and minimum road closure times. Highway infrastructure is one of the most valuable assets owned by the public sector. The success of national and local economies as well as quality of life of the general public depend on the efficient operations of highways. Ensuring smooth traffic operations requires maintenance and improvements of the highest standard.

Research approach involved the use of primary data collected from direct observation, interviews, review of archival records and productivity databases. Based on this, process maps and value stream maps were developed which were subsequently used to produce discrete event simulation models for the exploration of different optimisation scenarios.

This research highlights the synergistic relationship between VSM and DES in driving innovation in construction processes. Identified factors that affect roadworks process productivity include machine, manpower, material, information, environment and method-related factors. A DES model is presented to optimise the process and increase the production rates. A hybrid DES-VSM approach ensures an integrated approach to process optimisation.

This study is an application of hybrid version of previously published DES-VSM framework in the manufacturing sector. The present study has extended and tested its applicability within road surfacing operations. The different what-if scenarios presented in this paper might not be applicable to other parts of the world owing to various constraints. The study has focused on addressing the waste production inherent in pavement laying process. Even though external variables could possibly influence pavement process, those were ignored to allow for in-depth focus on the process under consideration.

Road users are one of the most important stakeholders that will benefit from the positive implications of this study. Private resurfacing companies and transport departments can optimise their overall process and style of working by comparing their end-to-end process and work plans with the ones mentioned in this paper. It will boost the productivity of equipment like planners, pavers and other machines used for resurfacing operations.

Existing approaches to process modelling such as VSM and process diagrams are constrained by their effectiveness in the analysis of dynamic and complex processes. This study presents a DES-based approach to validate targeted improvements of the current state of road surfacing processes and in exploration of different optimisation scenarios.

This study aims to utilize DMAIC methodology along with value stream mapping and other Lean Six Sigma tools in a major automobile light manufacturing industry to reduce defect rates and increase production capacity in their manufacturing line. The study also proposes a modified framework based on lean principles and FlexSim to identify and reduce waste in the selected industry.

A Lean Six Sigma modified framework has been deployed with DMAIC to reduce the defect rate and increase the production rate. Various tools like value stream mapping, brainstorming, Pareto charts, 5S, kanban, etc. have been used at different phases of DMAIC targeting wastes and inventory in the production line. Also, a simulation model has been utilized for the automobile light manufacturing industry to improve the machine utilization time with varying batch sizes.

The results of the study indicated a 53% reduction in defect rates. Thus, there would be an expected improvement in sigma value from 3.78 to 3.89 and a reduction in defects per million opportunities (DPMO) from 11,244 to 8,493. Additionally, simulation model using FlexSim was developed, and the optimum ordering batch size of raw material was obtained. It was also analyzed that idle time for various stations could be reduced by up to 30%.

The utilized framework helps identify defects for managers to increase production efficiency. The workers, operators and supervisors on the production line also need to be trained regularly for identifying the areas of improvement.

The modified Lean Six Sigma framework used in this study includes FlexSim simulation to make the framework robust, which has not been used with LSS tools in the literature studied. Also, the LSS finds very less application in the manufacturing domain, considering which this study tends to add value in existing literature taking a case of an automobile light manufacturing industry.

Reducing production auxiliary time is the key to improve the efficiency of the existing mixed-flow assembly line. This paper proposes a method combining improved genetic algorithm (GA) and Flexsim software. It also investigates mixed-flow assembly line scheduling and just-in-time (JIT) parts feeding scheme to reduce waste in production while taking the existing hill-drop mixed-flow assembly line as an example to verify the effectiveness of the method.

In this research, a method is presented to optimize the efficiency of the present assembly line. The multi-objective mathematical model is established based on the objective function of the minimum production cycle and part consumption balance, and the solution model is developed using multi-objective GA to obtain the mixed flow scheduling scheme of the hill-drop planter. Furthermore, modeling and simulation with Flexsim software are investigated along with the contents of line inventory, parts transportation means, daily feeding times and time points.

Theoretical analysis and simulation experiments are carried out in this paper while taking an example of a hill-drop planter mixed-flow assembly line. The results indicate that the method can effectively reduce the idle and overload of the assembly line, use the transportation resources rationally and decrease the accumulation of the line inventory.

The method of combining improved GA and Flexsim software was used here for the first time intuitively and efficiently to study the balance of existing production lines and JIT feeding of parts. Investigating the production scheduling scheme provides a reference for the enterprise production line accompanied by the quantity allocation of transportation tools, the inventory consumption of the spare parts along the line and the utilization rate of each station to reduce the auxiliary time and apply practically.

The complexity of manufacturing systems, on-going production and existing constraints on the shop floor remain among the main challenges for the analysis, design and development of the models in product, process and factory domains. The potential of different virtual factory (VF) tools and approaches to support simultaneous engineering for the design, and development of these domains has been addressed in the literature. To fulfil this potential, there is a need for an approach which integrates the product, process and production systems for designing and developing VF and its validation in real-life cases. This paper aims to present an integrated design approach for VF design and development, as well as a demonstration implemented in a wind turbine manufacturing plant.

As the research calls for instrumental knowledge to discover the effects of intervention on the operations of an enterprise, design science research methodology is considered to be a well-suited methodology for exploring practical usefulness of a generic design to close the theory–practice gap. The study was planned as an exploratory research activity which encompassed the simultaneous design and development of artefacts and retrospective analysis of the design and implementation processes. The extended VF concept, architecture, a demonstration and procedures followed during the research work are presented and evaluated.

The artefacts (models and methods) and the VF demonstrator, which was evaluated by industry experts and scholars based on the role of the VF in improving the performance in the evaluation and reconfiguration of new or existing factories, reduce the ramp-up and design times, supporting management decisions. Preliminary results are presented and discussed.

The concept VF model, its architecture and general methodology as an integrated design and development approach, can be adopted and used for VF design and development both for discrete and continuous manufacturing plants. The development and demonstration were limited, however, because real-time synchronisation, 3D laser scanning data and a commonly shared data model, to enable the integration of different VF tools, were not achievable.

The paper presents a novel VF concept and architecture, which integrates product, process and production systems. Moreover, design and development methods of the concept and its demonstration for a wind turbine manufacturing plant are presented. The paper, therefore, contributes to the information systems and manufacturing engineering field by identifying a novel concept and approach to the effective design and development of a VF and its function in the analysis, design and development of manufacturing systems.