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Resume - All modules - Riassunto Industrial technologies

Industrial technologies (Politecnico di Milano)

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FLP - FACTORY LAYOUT PLANNING

CRAFT (Computerized Relative Allocation of Facilities Technique) - usado quando já existe um

layout inicial (referência). Usa-se a metodologia CRAFT para melhorar o layout inicial, ou seja,
encontrar outras possibilidades que melhorem a produção com um custo menor
CRAFT (Tecnica computerizzata di allocazione relativa delle strutture) - utilizzata quando esiste già una layout
iniziale (riferimento). La metodologia CRAFT viene utilizzata per migliorare il layout iniziale, ovvero trovare altre
possibilità che migliorano la produzione a un costo inferiore

ALDEP (Automated Layout Design Program )- usado para criar um layout inicial. É um
procedimento para construção de um layout do zero.
Departamentos são considerados retangulos com dimensões dadas em "blocos". Deve-se defenir uma
largura para os departamentos. Escolhe-se aleatoriamente um departamento para ser posicionado
primeiro. Este deve ser colocado na parte superior esquerda da área da fábrica. A partir deste, seleciona-
se o departamento que deve na parte superior esquerda da área da fábrica. A partir deste, seleciona-se o
departamento que deve estar proximo a partir da tabela de prioridades fornecida. O preenchimento dos
departamentos é feito em zigzag.

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Lead time (throughput time, flowing time): duration of time from start of production
to finish [hours, minutes, seconds]
Setup time: the time it takes to set-up a production resource for processing a new work
order [hours, minutes, seconds]
WIP (Work In Progress): the amount of inventory that is being processed or is waiting
on the shop floor [quantity of work orders, but also time needed to finish the quantity
of work orders]
Production rate (throughput, rhythm, production capacity): number of products
that a production system is able to produce in a time unit [pieces / h, products / day,
etc.]
Cycle time is the time period elapsing b/w the exit time of the precedent work-piece
and exit time of the successive work-piece from a system, it is the inverse of production
rate [time / piece]

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1. Job Shops

• In a job shop machines are grouped on the basis of technological processes

involved (similar machines in the same department). The production system results
from grouping machines based on their homogeneity in terms of technological
processes. It is also named as a process layout, as expression of this grouping
criterion (layout per process). The departments are indicated also as functional
departments (leads to a functional separation)
• Each product (*) has its own routing in the system. The logistics (material handling
through the factory) is characterized by high flexibility, enabling different material
movements.
• Material flows are intertwined

• In general, job shop have some entities (e.g. pallets, bins) that are used to load the
transport means and as inter-operational buffers where the material is
temporarily stocked (decoupling functionality), waiting for the resource
availability for next operations in the process plan
• Workers are skilled on the basis of technological processes involved. It allows
expertise to be pooled (per function): it creates a favourable condition to support
knowledge transfer between workers operating in the same department. The
learning process can speed up, within each department, through workers with
higher competences / experiences who transfer knowledge / practical suggestions
based on common problems (homogeneous for technological capability) .

• STRENGTHS:
• High flexibility (ability to change or react with little penalty in time, effort,
cost or performance - product mix that is the wide range of products,
customization of products, machine flexibility, routing flexibility)
• High elasticity short-medium term (variation in product volume without big
changes in the unit cost)

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• Low impact of breakdown (consequence of high flexibility – it is possible

to rebalancing loads and choose another route through different process
plan; and also consequence of the decoupling functionality of the buffers)
• Low obsolescence of the system - It is possible to have technology
expansion and the high range of products reduce the risk of the system
becomes obsolete
• Specialization of workers – skilled to work in functional departments

• WEAKNESSES:
• Limitations in efficiency
• Production capacity is reduced – Higher flexibility implies higher need for
setups
• Difficult to calculate production capacity (depends on the mix of products)
• Production management is difficult - High WIP (work in progress – amount
of resources waiting to be processed); High lead time (difficult to estimate
delivery time); Low utilization rate; Need to define product routings
• Heterogeneity in quality – quality of products can vary for different pieces
• Space requirement is a constraint

• ROUGH DESIGN:
i. Definition of the product mix (identify product types, estimate yearly
demand for each type, define lot sizes for each type)
ii. Routing definition (define main route and alterative routes)
iii. Machine identification (basis on routings difined)
iv. For each product type, calculate the total time of the operations that have to
be done on the same type of machine (Tij – don’t include setup time)
v. Calculate the yearly workload NHi for each type of machine
N  Tij  Q j STTij  1 1 1
NH i =  j =1  +  NL j    
 3600  (1 − SR ) 60  A HC TR
 ij  i i i

SR: scrap rate (amount of production that does not have the requisites to be
qualified as a good product)
TR: trial rate (time when the machine could theoretically be used but the time is
dedicated to trial production subtracted as time loss)
A: availability (machine is actually available to work – related to downtime)
HC: Human coefficient (percentage of up time, when the machine is required
and actually available to work & the operator is available to carry out its required
tasks)
vi. Calculate the number of hours available for each machine-type i
AH (s) = WH (s)  SE
i i

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WHi(s) =yearly working time available (depending on the number of shifts

per day)
SE = scheduling efficiency
vii. Calculate the number of machines of type i necessary to manufacture the
production mix
NH i
NM i ( s) =
AH i ( s)
❑ The number that has been obtained must be rounded up or down
depending on
➢ Machine-type cost
➢ Possibility to outsource the production of some product-types
➢ Possibility to use alternative routings for some product-types

viii. Evaluate the number of shifts/day, computing the yearly costs adopting 1, 2
or 3 shifts/day

WF (s) + OC (s) + NM (s)CA m + FC (s)f

➢ WFi(s) = yearly cost of direct and indirect labor

➢ OCi(s) = yearly operating costs (e.g. energy costs)
➢ NMi(s) = number of type-i machines
➢ CAi = cost of a type-i machine
➢ FCi(s) = installation costs of facilities
➢ mi, fi = coefficients used to split costs on the machine lifetime or
facility lifetime
2. Manufacturing Cells

• Parts are grouped into part families and machines into cells.
• The machines are grouped on the basis of the processing requirements of the part
families (different technological processes / machines in the same cell). This
apporoach leads to obtain cells made of different machines, offering different
technological capabilities in accordance to the processing requirements of the
parts (cell is a group of functionally dissimilar machines)
• Each product has its own routing within the cell (this is the case when no inter-cell
move is required > case of complete cell independence: ideal case).
• Cell formation leads to:
• re-arrange existent equipment on the factory floor (i.e. machines, …);
• operate with new equipment, often incorporating various forms of flexible
automation (i.e. from machines, material handling equipment, …, to
FMC/FMS).

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• STRENGTHS:
• Rationalization of material flows (case of no inter-cell moves -> the
material remains “within” the cell)
• Setup time reduction – higher production capacity that is effectively used to
process pieces (higher production volume)
• WIP and lead time reduction (compared to job shop) – low queuing time
• Production management is easier (compared to job shop) - easier to forecast
delivery time
• Space requirement reduction – WIP reduction implies less need for stocks
• Job enlargement and enrichment for employees – team work within a cell
• More control on the quality characteristics of the product

• WEAKNESSES:
• Batch size reduction – machines does less setups
• Increased level of technical skills and ability to work in team
• Less flexibility than the job shop - Difficulties with work load balancing
between cells; Problems related to production mix variability
• In some cases, necessity of more machines than in a job shop
• Problems related to breakdowns

• GROUP TECHNOLOGY:
• Data collection regarding the production mix and technological routings
• Classification of products
• Rationalization and standardization of products
• Rationalization and standardization of technological routings
• Identification of product families
• Identification of machine groups forming the cells

• GROUP TECHNOLOGY - METHODS

• Informal methods – visual methods (quick but affected by subjectivity and
is difficult to repeat)
▪ Based on geometrical features – shapes and dimension

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▪ Based on technological features – similarities in processing

requirements
• Part coding analysis methods – implemented by an algorithm (more
formalized method, which leads to repeatability and objective outcomes,
but it is not simplicity)
▪ Based on geometrical features
▪ Based on technological features

• Product Flow Analysis: defining the routes for each product

o Cluster analysis
▪ ROC (Rank Order Clustering)
▪ Similarity coefficients
o Graph partitioning
o Mathematical programming

- ROC (Rank Order Clustering)

• Step 1: read each row as a binary number (row = machine type)
• Step 2: order rows according to descending binary numbers
• Step 3: read each column as a binary number (column = product type)
• Step 4: order columns according to descending binary numbers
• Step 5: if on steps 2 and 4 no reordering happened go to step 6, otherwise go to
step 1
• Step 6: stop

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• Solutions for parts that need inter-cell movements:

▪ to accept inter-cell moves / cell dependence
▪ to duplicate the machine types interested by the inter-cell moves
▪ to generate alternative technological routings for the exceptional parts

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- Similarity Coefficient:
• Step 1: compute the similarity coefficients
 nnijij nnijij 
max 
ssijij == max ;; 

 nnii nnjj 
•Step 2: join the couple (i*, j*) with the highest similarity coefficient, thus
forming the machine group k
• Step 3: remove rows and columns related to both i* and j* from the original
similarity matrix and substitute them with the row and column of the machine
group k; then, compute the similarity coefficient
• srk = max (sri*, srj*)
• Step 4: go to step 2 (based on a criterion: single machine group, or
predetermined number of machine groups)
PER OGNI RIGA DI n UNO, GUARDO QUANTI 1 HA IN COMUNE CON UN
ALTRA RIGA (x ad esempio) E FACCIO x/n NUMERI. LO STESSO FACCIO CON L
ALTRA RIGA E SCELGO IL MAX FRA I DUE E RAGGRUPPO I PIU SIMILI CIOE
QUELLI COL COEFFICENTE PIU ALTO

RAGGRUPPO QUELLI
CHE SONO RISULTATI
PIU SIMILI DALLA
TABELLA PRECEDENTE
E LI RAGGRUPPO
NELLA PRIMA TABELLA
CAMBIANDO L ORDINE
DEL PRODOTTO
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- ROUGH DESIGN OF A MANUFACTURING CELL

(After the identification of product families and machine groups)

o calculate the number of machines of type i necessary in the cell;

o evaluate the number of shifts/day, computing the yearly costs adopting 1, 2
or 3 shifts/day

- Improving layouts using cells:

o U-shaped line may reduce employee movement and space requirements
while enhancing communication, reducing the number of workers, and
facilitating inspection
o Virtual Manufacturing Cells (VMC) are an alternative to traditional
manufacturing cells, with the purpose to be more responsive with
production mix variability. Therefore, machines that belong to a cell are not
physically located together, but are identified as a group only by the
Production Planning and Control system (subsequent advantages due to cell
autonomy and rationalization of material flows (intertwining).

3. Transfer Lines (Linear/Rotary)

• Consists of a series of machines where a single product type (or a limited number
of product types within the same family) flows, resulting in a routing through the
machines.
• Product flow: from outside the system/line to the first machine, then to the second
machine, and so forth until the last machine, after which they exit the system / line
• The movements of product items / work-pieces are constrained by the rigid
interconnection due to the material handling system, and they are intermittent and
synchronous (in case of synchronous transfer line) or asynchronous (in case there is
the presence of inter-operational buffers)
• The transfer line is usually a highly automated manufacturing system
• The demand of products should be high and stable
• Few product type
• The line must be balanced - operations should be allocated / distributed properly to
different workstations / machines along the line so to balance the workloads
amongst them

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• Rotary configuration: circular material flow. This type of system is adequate when
high precision is required for work-piece processing, but it is limited in terms of
space constraints to a low number of machines installed along the rotary table.
(advantage: is more compact; communication among workers is increased as the
workers are clustered; flexibility of workers is increased as they can handle more
machines; minimize material handling since the material exit in the same place the
another part is entering the line)

• STRENGTHS:
• The system design places great emphasis on the efficiency/productivity (i.e.
limiting time losses) and economy of scale
• Simple production management – low WIP and lead time and absence of queues
(easy to forecast delivery time)
• High machine utilization – almost don’t need changes over (setup time
reduction or almost inexistent)
• Low space occupied
• Low need for workforce – highly automatized
• Qualitative characteristics of products are stable

• WEAKNESSES:
• Low flexibility
• High investment needed
• Long time required to start new productions
• High risk of obsolescence (due to the low range of products produced – if the
product reaches the end of their life, also does the line, because its difficult to
find products with similarities to reuse the line)

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• Significant impact of failures or breakdowns (coupled system)

•
ROUGH DESIGN:
• Two different cases:
o Mono-product (or single-model)
o Multi-product (just some hints …)
1. Define the technological routing and operations of the product type
2. Identify all the machine types that are needed and balance the line on the given CT
o Define operations and their sequence
• Definition of precedence diagram
IO DECIDO A QUALI
WORKSTATION • Calculation of (determistic) time for each operation and total work
AFFIDARE I VARI content (T) sommatoria di ogni tempo
PRODOTTI AL FINE DI o Get the required Cycle Time (CT)
FARE IN MODO CHE IL • Cycle time of a system = longest processing time in a workstation.
LAVORO SIA (bottleneck)
DISTRIBUITO o Compute the theoretical minimum number
of workstations
Nmin = ∑Tk /CT
o Allocate the operations to the workstations

o Balance the line (line balancing can be helpful to reduce costs of the line
installation (i.e. number of machine installed along the line) or to enhance
production capacity at fixed cost of the line installation)
o Compute the efficiency of the solution

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o Assignment of personnel (if any)

3. Calculate the theoretical production capacity (CT = cycle time of the line
[seconds/piece])

TPC= 1 / CT [p/h]

4. Calculate the actual production capacity

APC = TPC  A  (1 – SR) [p/h]

5. Compare the actual production capacity and the demand. If necessary, modify the
line and go back to step 2

6. NH (Needed Hours/year): Yearly Demand / APC + Setup T * (Yearly Demand / Batch Size)

7. AH (Available Hours/year) = Shft * N of Shift * days/week * week/year

8. N. of Lines (intero) = NH / AH

• Objectives of line balancing and assigning tasks to workstations

- Minimizing number of workstations
- Minimizing cycle time
- Maximizing efficiency
- Minimizing production costs
- Maximizing profits

- MODELS FOR LINE BALANCING

o Maximum fixed utilization rate (heuristic)

t i
UR = iS
CT e UR ≤ α

• Simple method, without priority rules (i.e. the first available

operation is assigned)
• With local priority rules for assigning priorities, such as:
o MaxDur (longest processing time)
o MaxNFol (largest number of immediately following
tasks/operations)
• With global priority rules, such as:
o MaxFol (largest number of following tasks/operations) et
similia
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o Ranked Positional Weighting

o Different approaches (using the same rule) can be adopted:

• “Task-oriented” (when the remaining idle time is not sufficient to
assign the i-th operation, a new workstation is opened), simpler, but
less efficient;
• “Station-oriented” (when the remaining idle time is not sufficient to
assign the i-th operation, before opening a new station, other
available operations are taken into consideration to fill-up), less
simple, but more efficient

- Fixed Utilization
o Steps
1. Draw the precedence graph (assembly graph)
2. Calculate the total tasks’ time T (sum of all tasks’ times)
It can be defined as total work content or, equivalently, total time
3. Calculate the cycle time CT
CT = available time / demand or capacity
4. Calculate the minimum number of stations K*:
K* = T/(CT ∙ α)
5. Assign tasks to stations, respecting the constraints (CT, precedence
relationships, etc.) If there is more than one task available to be
assigned, use a rule to prioritise tasks
- Local Rules:

1. MaxDur
▪ The processing time of the i-th operation is considered as
priority index.
▪ Operations (those available) are ranked with descending order
(thus setting as first the largest processing time ti).
▪ Operations with larger processing time ti are thus assigned as
soon as possible (when spare/idle time is more available …),
thus having the ones with smaller processing time available for
filling-up.
▪ Sub-criterion (in case of equal score for first criterion):
alphabetic order.

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2. MaxNFol:
▪ The largest number of operations immediately following the i-
th operation is considered as priority index (NFollowing).
▪ Operations with larger number of following operations are thus
assigned as soon as possible, thus increasing the number of
alternatives.
▪ Subcriterion: MaxDur
3. Ranked Positional Weighting
▪ A task is prioritized by the cumulative assembly time associated
with the task itself and its successors
▪ PW(i) = ti + ∑w tw ; w in S(i)
▪ where: S(i) successor tasks to task i

❖ Multi- Model: more than one type of product in the same

transfer line, so the production is set in batches (for change from
one type to another must have setup time)
a. Identify the production mix
b. Define the technological routing and operations of the
product types (in the production mix)
c. Identify all the machine types that are needed and balance
the line (for each product type)
d. Calculate the cycle time for each product type j
e. Calculate the whole time to produce a batch of product type
j

1.
f. Calculate the time needed for a set of batches (T = j=1,N Tj)
g. Calculate the average theoretical production capacity
h. Calculate the actual production capacity

1.
i. Compare the actual production capacity and the demand. If
necessary, modify the line and go back to step c.

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❖ Comparison of manufacturing production processes

Production
Mix

Job-shop
manufacturing

Cellular
manufacturing

Line
manufacturing

Production Volume

Manufacturing cells

Transfer

PROCESS HIGH LOW

PLANT

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Performance of production systems

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PROCESS PLANTS
A process plant is formed by a series of production equipment used to make non-reversible
chemical-physical transformation of materials through a fixed technological routing.
Plants are designed to operate:
• a continuous flow production process, or
• a batch production process.
The production flow is serial, analytical or synthetic.

Process plants are highly automated:

• relevance of technological parameters of the production process (temperatures, pressures,
…);
• significant investment in sensors, equipment control, etc.;
• control often automated with supervisory intervention
Examples: process of ethylene oxide, process of Nylon 6,6

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS:
STREGTHS:
• Simple production logistics
• Simple production management
• High plant utilization and equipment efficiency
• Low need for workforce

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• Qualitative characteristics of products are stable (when process conditions are kept stable)
WEAKNESSES:
• Low flexibility
• High investment needed
• High risk of obsolescence
• Significant impact of failures
• Importance of variations in process conditions

ROUGH DESIGN

CONTINUOUS FLOW
1. Define the production flows according to the technological routing required for the product
2. Identify all the production equipment types that are needed and the bottleneck
3. Define the theoretical production capacity

4. Calculate the actual production capacity

5. Compare the actual production capacity and the demand. If necessary, modify the line and
go back to step 2

BATCH PROCESS
Assumptions:
o Production in batches (batch A, batch B, batch C and so on);
o Setup times are required and do not depend on the production (batch) sequence
Rough:
1. Identify the production mix

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2. Define the production flows according to the technological routing required for the
products (in the production mix)
3. Identify all the production equipment types that are needed
4. Calculate yearly workload and number of hours available for each type of production
equipment i
5. Calculate the number of production equipment of type i necessary to produce the
production mix
Yearly workload NHi for production equipment i

Number of hours available for each type of production equipment i

Number of production equipment

For continuous flow and batch:

6. Evaluate the yearly costs: Overall plant costsm + Overall operational costs
• Overall plant costs include the costs of all the production equipment acquired to
build the plant;
• m = coefficient used to split costs on plant/facility lifetime;
• Overall operational costs may include different types of cost, i.e. typically energy
costs, maintenance costs, raw material costs, ….

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SCM Group
1. Overview of SCM Group
Wood manufacturing – one of the most important products. Until 2002 it was the only product to
SCM
Mission: creation, production and distribution of machinery, industrial components and iron
castings
For what use these materials:
• Housing
• Furniture
• Other sectors
PLM: product lifecycle management - tool to manage several activities involved in the product
development - manage qualities and non-conforming during production phases (need continuous
monitoring because the company requirements are changing)

2. Overview of the wood world

Main segments:
• Paper
• Transformation industry
• Furnitures – made by cheapboard, MDF-HDF (can give to final products higher value, like
painting etc), Light board, etc
• Etc
Furniture production: the process and technologies
…, Painting, assembling and packaging

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Manufacturing
(Discrete Production)
Fabrication
(Processing) Assembly

Fixed Position
Job Shop
Assembly Shop
Manufacturing Cell
Assembly Cell
Transfer Line
Assembly Line
Linear (Manual)
Rotary Paced

Intermittent

Continuous

Unpaced

Asynchronous

Synchronous

Assembly systems are systems which join together components (coming from systems making
the parts production or subassemblies) in order to obtain finished products.
Manual assembly systems are composed of several stations in which one or more workers
executes assembly activities. Stations are linked through a handling system (or transfer system).
MAIN RESOURCE: in manual assembly system the main resource is the workforce.
o ADVANTAGE of depending on operators activities: this kind of systems can be
properly defined flexible (versatility of the workers -> resources embracing a
variety of skills, ability to handle multiple assignments/different operations)
o DISADVANTAGE of depending on operators activities: variability of the manual
assembly time (which determines challenges in the balancing and sequencing
problem).
Automated assembly systems are composed of several stations in which assembly activities are
automated. They can be rigid or flexible (robot). In rigid systems each assembly machine can
execute one or a few assembly activities; in flexible systems robots can execute more assembly
activities.
o Automated assembly is performed by using assembly lines, assembly robotized
workstations and assembly cells.
o Circular machines are made by a rotating table on which the product assembly is put;
transfer of product from the various assembly stations in a synchronous way is
performed.

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o Linear machines are made by a roller transfer line on which pallets move in
asynchronous way by friction rollers.

GENERAL FEATURES:
❑ Technology
➢ Components assembly to make groups, sub-groups and finished products.
Operation can be reversible (or irreversible, e.g., welding)
➢ Free technology route, with degrees of freedom
➢ Low relevance of process technology parameters
➢ Process flow is synthetic
❑ Management
➢ Relevance of management parameters (WIP, synchronization, lead time, delay, ...)
❑ Cost structure
➢ Low relevance of fixed assets, depending on utilization and customization of
machinery
➢ A lot of manual operations cause relevance of workforce utilization (focus on
MANUAL)
❑ Assembly system is composed by:
➢ Workstations
➢ Handling systems (belt, roller, and overhead conveyors, AGVs, forklift trucks, etc.)
for parts (components) and WIPs (assemblies and subassemblies)
❑ Assembly tasks do not usually require specific tools
❑ Need of correctly “feeding” the workstations
➢ Small buffers in each workstations (for small and cheap
pieces)
➢ Use of overhead conveyors to bring (often large and
heavy) components to workstations synchronously with
respect to the main assembly (WIP)
➢ Use of assembly kit: set of assembly and components
(and specific tools)

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CLASSIFICATIONS:
• According to the layout:

• According to product mix:

• Single-model system (ref. line) establish one assembly line for each product: suitable for
high volumes and stability of product demand
o PROS: Low management issues
o CONS: Low flexibility
• Multi-model: batch production, more products are assembled in the same system
o Advantages: model variations can be wide
o Need of good balancing and scheduling of all the products to be assembled on the
same line (trade-off)
o Weaknesses: High inventory of finished product (demand is not precisely satisfied)
• Mixed-model: Different models can be assembled simultaneously without batching
o PROS
▪ Opportunity to follow the demand
o CONS
▪ Need (compulsory) to reduce setup time
▪ Need to properly schedule the products to be assembled
▪ Difficult to manage component flows
▪ Difficult to manage parallel workstations

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• According to movements
o Operator-Assembly
▪ Operator → Assembly
▪ Assembly → Operator
o Assembly-Components
▪ Assembly → Components
▪ Components → Assembly
DEFINITIONS: Some definitions applied to assembly, in order to classify the different
configurations:
• Variety: Variety of the assemblies (product types, variants within families) and, as induced
effects, of assembly operations executed inside the work-stations of assembly systems.
• Repetitiveness: repetitiveness of the assembly operations executed by / tasks assigned to
the operators inside the work-stations of the assembly systems (as opposite to the variety).
• Flexibility: the ability to change or react with little penalty in time, effort, cost or
performance (e.g. quality)» -> are both due to the assembly process as well as to the
material feeding.
• Volume: the ability of the assembly system to assemble a given range of volumes of
assemblies (as opposite to flexibility)

Clearly in this scheme the fixed position assembly is located in the upper corner, to the
right: depending just on the workforce skills, this system can guarantee:
• high flexibility (the ability to adapt is gained by training the operators which are -by
definition- the most versatile existing resource) -> operators in this system are highly
skilled / multiskilled;
• high variety and low repetitiveness -> substantially, the operator has to execute all the
assembly activities required by the product; or at least a big portion of activities along the
assembly process;

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• low volume as the high variety (low repetitiveness) of the executed activities brings to
lower efficiencies for different reasons.

CONFIGURATIONS:
1. Fixed position assembly: the product does not move while being assembled, the required
components are brought to the working station (the product is assembled in a single site).
All the assembly activities are executed in only one workstation.
• inside the system, such components are assembled together; all the tools and
equipment required to assemble the components must be there (in the site);
• the output is the unique finished product.
• mix flexibility is reached thanks to the parallel stations prepared for different
product types, i.e. equipped with proper materials/components, tools, and trained
workers
• Typical products assembled in this system:
i. heavy and bulky products (difficult to handle), e.g. machine tools, ships,
airplanes;
ii. big size (physical volume/dimension) and the heaviness (weight) of the
machines;
iii. Simple products/objects required in medium quantities and requiring
few parts to be assembled;
iv. Fragile products

CRITICAL POINT: material handling systems are different and for different reasons ->
should be taken carefully into account when designing an assembly system:
• Material handling systems for material feeding (moving parts/components to be
supplied; note the challenge: trend to have more and more part numbers for
producing diversity of product variants in a product family -> trend to variety);
• Material handling systems for moving the assembly (product) on progress (again
there is some effect of variety but more on the line balancing and sequencing
problem).

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ADVANTAGES:
✓ High flexibility (mix flexibility- due to the independence and the decoupling of
the workstations)
✓ Product flexibility: to introduce a new product, operators just need to be trained to
acquire the new required skills for new types of product, while the physical
structure can remain substantially the same
✓ Expansion flexibility: (long period) it is not difficult to add new workstations,
thanks to their independence/decoupling, the only constraint is room/space.
✓ Low investment: the building of new workstations doesn’t require particular
structures
✓ Job enlargement, enrichment and rotation for the employee: Every operator
executes the entire product assembly process (case of simple products), or a
significant part of it (case of bulky products). high number of different
operations / tasks assigned to the station/operator -> low repetitiveness of tasks -
> more gratification
WEAKNESSES:
- Complex flow in managing the input of components to each site (Potentials for
intertwining of material flows)
- Required multi-skilled workers: labour training might be difficult and time-
consuming
- High cost for workforce
- cycle time is by definition long (assembly process is divided in few operators)
- High WIP (need larges inventories)
- Low volumes of type of product
- Large space requirement

ROUGH DESIGN: The number of stations Nj for the product j can be calculated as follows:
Nj = PCj x Tj
where:
• PCj = requested production capacity for product-type j [pieces/h]
• Tj= time required in order to complete the assembly process on a piece of
product-type j [h/piece]

2. Assembly shop: the product has to be moved through the different manual assembly
workstations. Indeed, there is no rigid transport system, every product could have its
specific flow through the workstations. The transfer could be manual or using AGV.
• The workstations are assigned a subset of all the operations of the assembly process.

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• there is no rigid transport system, every product could have its specific flow
through the workstations (flexibility in routings due to flex material handling);
• the transfer could be manual, automated (using AGV, Automated Guided
Vehicles) or semi-automated;
• to each workstation (generally, more than one station in parallel) is assigned a
phase of the assembly process of the product

▪ Strengths
• The stations (phases) are decoupled by buffers
o The cycle time is not a constraint
• The flexibility is high
o Mix product and expansion flexibility - low repetitiveness
• Specialization of workers
▪ Weaknesses
• Investment depends on the level of automation of the system
• It might be difficult to manage the flows of products and
components (high WIP, high lead time, difficult to predict delivery
time, need to define the routings)
• The complexity of production planning and control can cause
bottlenecks and idle-times
• Limitations in efficiency

3. Assembly cell: suitable solution for the assembly of a medium range of medium volume
products
• In assembly cells the product moves during assembly through a number of
stations with some flexibility in its trajectory
• In manual assembly cells, the organization of work is based on team-work
following similar rules and organizational solutions adopted for manufacturing
cells

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• Normally in an assembly cell, the operator follows the product being assembled,
its mean that the complete assembly process can be made by the operator
together with product testing and quality assurance

4. Assembly line: the workers are stationary in the workstations and a transfer system moves
the semi-finished assembly through the workstations where the parts / components are
added in sequence until the final assembly is realized. The workstations are assigned a
subset of all the operations of the assembly process.
• Each station is dedicated to a few tasks, it means that, unlike the fixed position
assembly, for assembly lines each station is just equipped with its specific tools,
without the need for sharing specific tools/equipment

• It is a solution chosen for products for which demand is high.

• Every line (which is composed of more workstations) could be involved in the
assembly of different types of product:
• single-model line (only one product type);
• multi-model line;
• mixed-model line (more flexible solution, even if it is always a line).
• STRENGTHS:
• Rationalization of material flows - Material flows are really rationale because
each workstation is fed with just its pertinent components;
• Low WIP (no buffers)
• Limited space requirement – ausence of buffers and it is a compact and ratoinale
transfer (material handling system)
• Labour training might be easy
• Low cost for workforce – especialized in few functions

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• WEAKNESSES:
• Low flexibility
• Long time required to start new productions
• Repetitive work
• Line balancing might be difficult
• High impact of breakdowns

• The transfer can be:

▪ Paced: Workstations are not separated by buffers
▪ continuous (operators move together with the assembly and at the same
time they work on it or, similarly, the assembly is moving along the station
and the operators are concurrently carrying out the assigned operations).
Operators can’t stop the line
o Strengths: Cycle time and production capacity are perfectly
controlled
o Weaknesses: Probability of no completion (at the line stations) and
problems of unfinished pieces
Operators can stop the line
o Strengths: No problem of unfinished pieces
o Weaknesses: Cycle time and production capacity are not perfectly
controlled
▪ Intermitent: all stations starts the work at the same time, but operators
don’t move with the assembly
Machine-paced line: the movement of pieces is paced by a timer and given by
the cycle time of the line
o Strengths: cycle time and production capacity are perfectly controlled
o Weaknesses: probability of no completion (at the line stations) and
problems of unfinished pieces
Operator-paced line: The movement of pieces is paced by the operators: the
material handling system moves only after all operators have given their
approval
o Strengths: No problem of unfinished pieces
o Weaknesses: Cycle time is variable and it is determined by the slowest
operator

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▪ Unpaced: workpieces are transferred whenever the required operations are

completed. They are separated by buffers
▪ synchronous (absence of buffers between workstations),
▪ asynchronous (buffers between workstations)
clearly operators can’t systematically exceed the cycle time, otherwise
downstream buffers would result empty and/or upstream buffers would result full.
• problem of blocking: when a buffer is full the upstream station can’t drop the
piece (having finished its assigned task on the current piece);
• problem of starvation: when a buffer is empty the downstream station can’t
take a new piece (having finished its assigned task on the current piece).
• Strengths
• No problem of unfinished pieces
• Cycle time can be exceeded, but only occasionally (i.e. problems of blocking
and starvation)
• Weaknesses
• Cycle time and production capacity are not perfectly controlled

Average assembly time Mk for each operation k and associated standard deviation Sk can be
defined using the following methods:
1) work sampling
2) standard times
3) MTM method
The duration Mk of the resulting assembly operation and its standard deviation Sk are calculated
by composition

Mk =  mi sk =  si2
i k i k
Learning
Curve
• “learning curve”: affects the work time due to the operator’s
learning effect. In fact the assembly time for a given activity
decreases with the number of repetitions of the activity itself,
tending towards an asymptote after some time

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1. Work Sampling: It consists in the observation of specific assembly operations and

in the calculation of the average duration and standard deviation (Mk, Sk) of each
operation using the standard statistical approaches
Step 1: Choose and identify the assembly operation to monitor
Step 2: Inform the operator of the work sampling study
Step 3: Divide operation in smaller components (max duration 5-30 secs each)
Step 4: Calculate the required number of repetitions (accuracy)
Step 5: Measure the elapsed time for each work component (precise timing) and
store captured data
Step 6: Calculate the average assembly time and its standard deviation
2. Standard Times: Standard times are called the data on elementary assembly
operations calculated with the work sampling method in a company (i.e. in real
assembly conditions) and stored in the company data-base. This way a data-base is
made available with data related to “basic” assembly operations. The duration and
standard deviation of a new assembly operation can be calculated by composition
of the standard times of the available elementary operations data.
3. MTM (Motion Time Measurement) method is based on the assumption that, based
on an archive of elementary operation data (where duration and standard deviation
are assigned, based on custom parameters of the operations like the weight lifted or
the angle of movement) it is possible to compose any complex operation and
calculate its average duration and standard deviation. Nowadays the use of CAD
computer programs makes this approach much more easy and precise then in the
past.
o Advantages:
▪ Quicker and cheaper than time study (work sampling)
▪ Reliable (based on large number of studies)
▪ Planning and estimating new jobs
▪ Useful for short runs
▪ Rating already incorporated

DESIGN A MANUAL ASSEMBLY LINE – Assembly Line Balancing (ALB)

• Definition of the balancing constraints
o Cycle time
o Precedence relationships among operations
o Incompatibility between operations that cannot be assigned to the same station
o Opportunity or necessity to assign some operations to the same station

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o Constraints related to space

o Constraints related to workers
o Constraints related to the material feeding
• Evaluation of the time of each assembly operation
• Calculation of the cycle time

• Technical objectives
o Minimizing the number of stations, given the cycle time
o Minimizing the cycle time, given the number of stations
o Minimizing the total idle time

IT = n  CT − i =1 ti
N

o Minimizing the probability of no completion in a machine-paced line, or in a

continuous flow line, in case the operator can’t stop the line
o Minimizing the probability that the times of operations in one or more stations
exceeds CT in an operator-paced line, or in a continuous flow line, in case the
operator can stop the line

• Economical objectives
o Minimizing the total expected cost (TEC)
TEC = LC + E_CUT
LC = line cost (equipment cost + operators cost)
E_CUT = expected cost of unfinished operations

PROBABILITY OF NO COMPLETION

Pk ≤ P*
where:
Pk = probability of no-completion of task k
P* = maximum probability of no-completion

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In fixing the value of P*, it must be considered that:

• fixing a value too low implies:
➢ high number of stations or, in other words, high line cost (LC);
➢ low expected cost of unfinished operations (E_CUT)
• fixing a value too high implies:
➢ low line cost (LC)
➢ high expected cost of unfinished operations (E_CUT)
Starting point: the line doesn’t exist. Then, it is created the first station: considering an
operation/task which has not precedence constraints, it is calculated its probability of no-
completion (Pk) and, if it is lower than P* (if this condition is not verified for the first assigned
operation, the problem doesn’t have a feasible solution), this operation is allocated to the station.
Afterwards, checking that precedence constraints are fulfilled, another operation is considered:
• if its Pk summed to the previous Pk is still ≤ P*, the new operation is allocated to the
same station. Then another operation is considered and it is verified the possibility to
allocate it to the same station (again, verifying the precedence constraints and the Pk ≤ P*
constraint).
• if its Pk summed to the previous Pk is not ≤ P*, it is created another station and the operation
is allocated to the new station.
The procedure ends when all the operations of the assembly graph have been assigned to stations.
It is hypothesized that times Ti are random variables: they follow a normal distribution and
they are independent from each other. Ti ~ N(ti, σi).
Steps of the method:
1. Calculate the remaining time related to task k

RTk = CT −  ti
iS

2. Calculate the variable associated to the remaining time

RTk
Zk =

iS
i
2

σi = standard deviation of the time required to perform task i

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3. Calculate the probability of completion: Φ(Zk) is the probability of completion

4. Calculate the probability of no completion
Pk = 1 – Φ(Zk)

BUFFER SIZE
Buffers allow for partial independence between the stations, thereby protecting the line against
assembly time variability.
Due to the decoupling function, an operator in a station can occasionally exceed (go beyond) the
CT (i.e. the requested CT in order to reach the target PC), as the station downward and upward
can continue their operations, respectively thanks to the material available on progress

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It is crucial to find the optimal size of the buffer: If increases the size of the buffer, higher is the
production capacity and the variance it can accept (different CT), but costlier it will be and will
need more space available. The optimal size is influenced by the line balancing

1. Production capacity (PC) increases with the rise of the buffer size (lost capacity is reduced),
however the increase of production capacity becomes marginal, less and less relevant.
2. For a given buffer size, production capacity rises with the decrease of the coefficient of
variation

The station length allows to insert a time buffer (i.e. an excess time) to protect the line against
assembly time variability, thereby limiting the problems of unfinished pieces. Defining the station
length is equivalent to defining the buffer size:
Longer the station is, lower will be the probability of no completion

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Factory Physics

Little’s Law: In a steady (stationary) system, the following law applies: TH = WIP / LT
• Bottleneck Rate (rb): Rate (parts/unit time or jobs/unit time) of the station having the
highest long-term utilization.
• Raw Process Time (T0): Sum of the long-term average process times (working time) of
each station in the line.
• Congestion: different cases may happen:
o Best-case performance (zero variability, zero randomness);
o Practical worst-case performance (maximum randomness);
o Worst-case performance (zero randomness but batch moves);
• Critical WIP (i.e., W0): the WIP level in which a line having no congestion would
achieve maximum throughput (i.e., rb) with minimum throughput time (i.e., T0): W0 = rb
*T0

Ex: Penny Factory

4 machines – Process time = 2h

Lead time – time to process one piece

Rb = 0,5 (highest utilization, when there are 4 pieces in the system) – best case performance

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Worst case performance: lowest rate for the whole process = start produces the second piece only
when the first is finished. The performance is due to batch moves.

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TTPworst = w * T0 ; THworst = 1 / T0

Pratical worst-case performance (PWC)

Another example

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Considerations
If we increase the input rate of parts to the system, then WIP will increase progressively and TH
will increase linearly, while LT will remain constant, but ..
• When we reach a critical value WIP°, TH will achieve its maximum and will never
increase more, while LT will start increasing.

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• If we want to decrease LT, while maintaining TH constant, we have to reduce the WIP
Systems are subjected to variability (anything that causes the production system to depart from a
regular and predictable behavior). Typical variability of manufacturing environments:
• “Natural” variability including minor fluctuations in the working time due to differences
in operators, machines, and materials
• Random and preemptive outages including machine failures, operator unavailability,
shortages of consumables, etc.
• Non preemptive outages including setups (product changeovers or process change-overs,
which typically occur between jobs, rather than during them), preventive maintenance,
operator meetings, breaks, reworks, ….
Between Best-case and Practical worst-case we have low variability; in Practical worst-case we
have moderate variability; and between Practical worst-case and Worst-case we have high
variability.
1. Work Content (WC)

The work content (WC) of a job is a measure of the working time (or process time)
required by an operation on a workstation.
WC = Work content [hrs/job]
LS = Lot size (batch size BS) [units/job]
tp = Processing time per piece [min/piece]
ts = Setup time per lot / per batch [min/job]

Parameters

Where:
• WCm = Mean work content [hrs]
• WCs = Standard deviation of the work content [hrs]
• WCi = Individual work content per operation [hrs]
• n = Number of operations reported back [-]
• WCv = Coefficient of variation for the work content [-]

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2. Operation time (TOP): expresses the time needed in order to complete the job

• TOP: Operation time [SCD]

• WC: Work content [hrs]
• ROUTmax: Maximum possible output rate [hrs/SCD]

ROUTmax: expresses the maximum working hours per day (i.e. the Shop Calendar Day,
SCD), provided by a workstation to perform the requested jobs.  It is a “maximum” rate,
defined assuming the maximum efficiency, without performance losses.
Thus, TOP expresses how many SCDs a workstation / a machine / a manual station is busy,
under the hypothesis that it works at its maximum capacity.

3. Throughput:

4. Bottleneck: constrains the maximum capacity of the production system

5. Level of utilization:

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MODULE 4 – SIMULATION
Simulating means to recreate the behavior of a system (e.g. production system) over an extended
period of time, in a shorter (simulation) time and implies the construction of a model. It is a
fictitious representation of reality.
Computer simulation allows us to predict the behavior of a system under certain conditions that
most likely will manifest while the system operates

Into manufacturing (production, logistic, management) simulation supports:

• Design of new systems/solutions
• Improvement of actual systems/solutions
• Performance analysis (e.g. productivity, bottle necks, resources saturation)
• WHAT-IF analysis: how outputs are changing in accordance to variation of some process
parameters.
• Training
A system is a group of entities (elements and components) that interact. The main characteristics
are:
• Several elements interaction
• The overall behavior depends on individual behaviors
Types of systems:

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• Discrete: systems where the status variables change instantaneously at discrete intervals
of time (manufacturing systems, traffic regulation systems). Changes take place at certain
point in time
• Continuous: systems where the status variables change continuously during the time of
simulation (flow of fluids, heat, etc)
When system is simple enough, it can be solved through analytical solutions (mathematical
models). However, the majority of systems are too complex and need experimental models
through simulation to get information.
• Deterministic: there is no uncertainty in the simulated phenomena
o Customers arriving at regular intervals of time
o Preventive maintenance interventions executed at regular intervals of time
(with no variability)
• Stochastic: there are some aleatory variables, that are generated within the model
through proper statistical routines. There is randomness in the inputs or operations of
the model

DES – Discrete event system

• Dynamic systems (over time) which update their values only at discrete number of points;
• No continuously changing states are of importance.
Examples: restaurant, airport, factory, warehouse
APROACH:
• We focus on the times between the events.
• Having the knowledge of the time of next event we can move along time line and update
the system only at this specific time point.
• Since we know that nothing has happened between the two time points, we have full
information about history.
DEFINITIONS (IMPORTANT!!!!!)
Entity: a thing (elements and components) with distinct and temporary existence that passes
through a system. (E.g.: a piece that should be assembled, a client to the bank office).
Resources: things with active and permanent existence that provide a service to entities (e.g.
machine tool, conveyor, a banker, …).
Queues: things with temporary and passive existence that are formed by entities which are waiting
for a resource (that is not free at that time).
Variables and Attributes: data and information about entities or resources (e.g. warehouse
capacity, cycle time).

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Status: Description of all the values attributes of an entity or a resource, in a specific instant of
time.
Event: Time of time in which the model status is changing (change of status of entity or
resource).
Activities: Operations done during an event (started and ended).

PHASES:

1. Problem Definition: identify objectives and constraints; define a project plan (time,
resources, team, different roles and scenarios)
2. Conceptual Model: detail and accuracy of the model (decisional/exogenous/endogenous
variables; constraints; performance measurements)

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3. Data Collection: If some data are missing, we have to

adjust the level of accuracy of our model. If we do not
have enough experimental data, we can use some
statistical distributions.

ASSESSMENT: accuracy, completeness and consistency of the

simulation model respect to conceptual model. (did you do things right?)
VALIDATION: accuracy, completeness and consistency of the simulation model respect to real
system. (Did you do the right things?)
SOFTWARE: Selecting Software to run simulation according to some criteria like flexibility, ease
of development, execution speed, animation, statistics, visualization, etc. The software has to be
able to instantiate the different parts of the system (entity, resources, queues, attributes) and to
describe the different behavior of the system (status, events, activities).
➢ As complexity of the system grows, we see the need for intuitive tools that can both
provide flexibility and user friendliness – like Simulink (Matlab product) and it’s specific
library SimEvents
(see Simulink commands and steps of simulation process)
SimEvents is a discrete events system simulator which models the behaviour of Entities as they
pass through a constructed model.
Entity generator (time based, event based), can ask to show the statistical results – you can
also attribute same priority rule to the entity created
Entity terminator – determines the end of the path
Entity server – simulates an operation performed by the system
Entity queue – simulates the queues in the system (where entities wait to be processed by the
servers)
Entity imput switch – tool to change the path of same entity
SINKS – library of signal scopes, display or export signal data blocks
Scope – plot values of the signal along time

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Monte Carlo Simulation

Monte Carlo Method is a technique that requires the use of random numbers to solve stochastic
problems on a static system. This model can be conceived as an experimental system, where each
simulation corresponds to an experiment (the higher the number of “experiments” the more reliable
the outcome).
Monte Carlo simulation uses repeated sampling to determine the properties or behaviors of some
phenomenon. This model works iteratively, by evaluating a deterministic model that uses a set of
random number as input. At the end, this model can compute same statistical parameters that can
evaluate a system.
This kind of method is often used when the model is complex, not linear and with many uncertain
parameters.
Objectives:
• assessing uncertainties in business processes
• forecasting the performances of business processes
• reflecting on the underlying reasons of performances
Elements needed:
1. Information on statistical distribution expected about the uncertain elements on the
simulated process
2. Generator of random numbers
3. Mathematical representation of the simulated process
4. One or more aleatory variables as output
5. Possibility to statistically evaluate the results
Procedure:
1. GENERATE a sequence of random numbers;
2. CONVERT the sequence of random numbers into the sequence of values assumed by a
variable of interest.

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Industry 4.0 – Also called Automation (self-production) or mechatronics

1784 – Industry 1.0: mechanization, steam power, weaving loom
1870 – Industry 2.0: mass production, assembly line, electrical energy
1969 – Industry 3.0: automation, computers and electronics
Today – Industry 4.0: physical systems, internet of things, networks - Refers to the manufacturing
in the future, improved by high developed (advanced) technologies.

Intelligent factories - machines are interconnected wirelessly and they communicate with each
other with internet of things (also over internet of things, cyber physical system can communicate
with each other and with humans in real time).
All the system is connect in a comprehensive network – cyber physical systems – they
communicate and control each other cooperatively.
The product tells the machine how it has to be processed and at the end of production, a computer
checks if everything is ok.
Internet of Things – Benefits:
• SMART MANTEINENCE
o PREDICT UNIT FAILURES –LIMIT DOWNTIME RISK
o MAINTAINING HIGH RELIABILITY
o DETECT, DIAGNOSE AND REMEDY MACHINE PROBLEMS
• PROACTIVE OPTIMIZATION
o TOTAL CONTROL OVER THE PRODUCTION - SET EEO TARGET
o CROSS CHECK PRODUCTION OUTPUT TOGETHER WITH THE MACHINE
ENERGY ABSORPTION
• ENVIROMENTAL DETECTORS
o MONITORING OF THE OVERALL WORKING CONDITIONS
o WARRANTY MANAGEMENT
Application of information technology can assist in the execution of production, through on-line
management of the activities at the shop floor.Besides, there are many modern control systems
that manage or control a machine’s functions, such as PLCs used to run production equipment.

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MES system bridges the gap between the planning system and the control system, using on-line
information to manage the current application of manufacturing resources: people, equipment and
inventory. The main idea of MES is to provide support for shop floor
operations such as
• planning and scheduling,
• execution and control,
• timely information regarding equipment status,
• material delivery and consumption,
• real-time production progress
Resources are connected, they exchange data. Computer tool to controlled how the production
goes.
Pyramid

1. Resources application
2. Informatic system and industry -> manufacturing execution system
3. Plant level – machine, devices
I.4.0 Lab – using the line of production to develop and planning

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MAINTEINANCE POLICIES: criteria and strategies used in order to make maintenance

Opportunistic Maintenance: consists of making maintenance actions on secondary components

due to a corrective or preventive operation executed on a target component
Productive Maintenance: set of continuous improvement actions that can improve equipment
maintainability and reliability
2 types:
1. Corrective Maintenance (CM): after failure
2. Preventive Maintenance (PM): before failure
I. TBM: time-based maintenance (cyclic – clock-based or age-based)

Done if: cost of TBM policy is lower than cost of CM

II. CBM: condition-based maintenance (monitoring parameters that characterizes the

condition of equipment – like crack growth)

Cost of CBM is lower than cost of

TBM and CM

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III. Predictive Maintenance: PM actions are based on the evaluation of the trend of one
or more parameters, that are clearly linked to the wear process (normally through a
mathematical model).

STATE SPACE METHOD can be used to provide a rough estimate of the expected system
availability & production capacity
Procedure
1. Model the state space table of the system (s , )

2. Model the correspondent table of probabilities (p , )

3. Evaluate the probability of each state of the system

4. Evaluate the production capacity due to each state

5. Calculate the expected production capacity due to all states
6. Calculate the expected system availability due to all states

The availability depends on many factors, such as:

➢ technological characteristics of product types (as materials to be manufactured on
given machine types)
➢ number of machines and their state (dependent on their characteristics as reliability
and maintainability)
➢ ability to schedule preventive maintenance

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