A Simulation-based Optimization Approach for Automated Vehicle Scheduling at Production Lines

Abstract: The world becomes more integrated and sophisticated, especially in the birth of advanced technologies, which have influenced all life aspects. Automated systems could be considered an example of those aspects, which have been affected by recent changes in today’s life. The competition in the market is putting increasing pressure on different manufacturing organizations to find the best methods that enable them to stay up to date with the latest technologies in the industrial field. One of the most famous dilemmas that exist in this field is designing an efficient and flexible material handling system. This issue draws the attention of both decision-makers in different companies and software developers who put considerable effort into making that desired system real. Inclusive research needs to be performed to obtain such a system, and the most significant part of the research that requires special attention is the applied methodology.The approach to be adapted determines the degree of stability of a particular material handling system to function effectively in the case studied. Several methods are available and could be implemented to design that effective system such as meta-heuristic algorithms, and approaches that depend on simulation software tools. The latter approach, which is the simulation approach, seems to get increasing attention from developers of the industrial system since it plays a vital role in reducing the cost and preserving available resources. Besides, it helps predict future changes and scenarios of the system to be analyzed.In this project, a discrete-event simulation model was built for the proposed layout of the main shop floor owned by a Swedish manufacturing company. The corporation located in the south of Sweden, and it produces a vast range of manufacture of goods. The chosen methodology is a combination of lean, simulation, and optimization approaches. It has been implemented on the proposed layout in which material is handled into production lines by using automated guided vehicles (AGVs) as a means of transportation. The analysis of results shows potential benefits, where the production process became more efficient and organized since the operational cost has been reduced by decreasing the number of required vehicles. Moreover, the simulation approach facilitated testing new ideas and designing improved scenarios without the necessity to change the current state of the factory layout or disturbing the regular activities.