Modeling the Future: A Simulation-Based Analysis for Sustainable Production Transition - Modeling and Evaluating the Future Manufacturing at Beyond Gravity from a Triple Bottom Line Perspective

Abstract

Sustainability within the manufacturing industry is becoming more relevant, and the space industry is no exception. The need of satellites is increasing and manufacturers in this industry will need to scale up their production to meet the new demands. A company within this changing industry is Beyond Gravity who is aiming to scale up their production, moving from a fixed production layout to a high volume batchproduction flow. The purpose of this thesis is to create a Discrete Event Simulation (DES) model of the future production at Beyond Gravity. This simulation model will be created to investigate their transition from the current production to the future production, and how it will affect Triple Bottom Line (TBL) sustainability factors regarding the environment, the workforce and the economy. The data for the project is collected through a narrative literature review, interviews, and personal communication at the company, with Banks model as the overall methodology. The DES model verified that the company would be close to reach their goal of a higher throughput compared to the current production, giving the company valuable information about their future production. This indicates that using a simulation model when transitioning to a new production could be helpful. The TBL evaluation was conducted with the help of the DES model together with the data collected. In this case, the Work in Process (WIP) will become larger with the higher throughput, binding more capital which could affect the economical sustainability negatively. The energy consumption per product will decrease, but on the other hand the total energy consumption will increase for the future production, indicating an impact on the environmental aspect. The DES model suggests that the workload will become uneven in the future production, which could lead to poor cognitive ergonomics among the workforce. In conclusion, a DES model can help a company transition to a future production, and at the same time provide insights within the TBL sustainability aspects.