Reference no: EM132260367

We would like to simulate a manufacturing process consisting of 5 work stations and 4 buffers. each workstation has the potential to produce anywhere between one and six parts on any given day, with each outcome equally likely (the average potential daily production is 3.5 parts per day). However a work station in the middle of the line cannot produce more in a day than the amount of WIP in the buffer just upstream of it. There is an unlimited amount of raw material in the store room to feed the first work station. Perform the simulation experiment by using a spreadsheet with a random number generator to generate a number between 1 and 6 (simulating the roll of a die) for the daily potential production of each station. The actual production will be the lesser of the daily production capacity and the number of parts in the upstream buffer. The WIP in the line is measured at the end of a day and is equal to the sum of # of units in each buffer. Exercise 1: Start the simulation with all the buffers empty. Write down your assumptions about how the line runs. For example, the number of parts that can be potentially processed in a day must be in the upstream buffer at the end of the day before. In this case, since you start out empty, it will take 5 days to fill up the line. Run your simulation for a minimum of 500 days. Questions to answer: What is the WIP at the end of this period? What is the average daily production? Does it differ from the theoretical value for the last machine? If so, how do you explain the difference? Are there variations in the results you get from one run to the another? What is the average input rate for parts into the line? Is this system stable ? (Plot the WIP and look for trends.) If not, why not and what would you need to do achieve a table system Exe Exercise 2: Reduce the throughput of Machine 1 to an average of 2.5 (randomly between 0 and 5), rerun the simulations and compute the measures listed in Exercise 1. Run the simulation 10 times by recalculating the spreadsheet and average values for WIP, Cycle time, throughput rate and generate 95% confidence intervals for the Cycle time, throughput rate, WIP. Compare actual throughput time against Little’s law calculation. Exercise 3 Reduce the variability in your process by using the random number generator to generate either a 3 or a 4. Note that the average potential daily production will be the same as before. Compare your results for both WIP and average daily production with those you obtained in Exercise 2. Reference: Intuition exercise #3, p 334 of Factory Physics Third edition.