Simulering av produktionssystem. Examensarbete genomfört hos Elektroautomatik i syfte att analysera deras serieproduktion genom simulering

Abstract

The main objective of this project was to create a simulation model of Elektroautomatiks (EA) new production system that resides on their factory floor in Gothenburg, in order to test its capabilities and investigate improvement areas. Recently EA switched their production from batch- to line production in order to keep up with new customer demands, four machines needed to be assembled and tested every week. It's a specific type of machine that is assembled in many different process steps to then be shipped off to the customer. A lot of things were unknown when it came to the performance of the new production system and a study needed to be done in order to find out how well it could perform and if there was room for improvement. Three questions were posted at the beginning of the project that needed to be answered regarding: the balance and staffing of the system, the lead time and where the bottlenecks were located. First, a conceptual model was created in order to map out the production and to be used as a base for the simulation model. Not a lot of data had been taken regarding the process times and needed to be collected. When enough data were collected and the system mapped out, a simulation model was created that mimicked the real system using the simulation software Flexsim. A series of experiments were then conducted on the model in order to find answers to the questions that were posted at the beginning of the project. The experiments involved the number of operators working on the final assembly step of the production line. All data from the experiments were then collected, analyzed and presented along with improvement measures to finalize the project.