Modeling of chain conveyors and their equipment interfaces
WSC '96 Proceedings of the 28th conference on Winter simulation
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This paper discusses a simulation project that assessed the cost-effectiveness of modifying a highly complex conveyor system. An automobile component manufacturer was attempting to increase plant capacity by incorporating a dynamically programmable conveyor system. The question was whether the large investment would be justified by the increase in plant capacity. To answer this question, Micro Saint simulation models were constructed and validated for the baseline conveyor system. Then, these models were used to evaluate increases in throughput and utilization that would be gained by different scenario in 1) different conveyor programming strategies, 2) increases in conveyor demand, and 3) changes in conveyor demand variability. The results of the study indicated that plant capacity would be increased with a dynamically programmable conveyor systems, but perhaps not enough to warrant the investment.