Overview
The first assignment requires you to build and utilise a model of a facility that assembles toys. The overall objective is to determine the optimal way to deploy a finite buffering capability. You will first build the model without buffers and then you will modify this, seeking a configuration that gives a higher throughput.
Your submission will consist of two Simul8 models, the initial gno buffersh model and also, the best configuration you are able to find, the goptimal buffersh model. You will also submit a report documenting how your investigation proceeded (N.B. . 500 words. Hint: Consider using tables to present your findings, these convey a lot more with a lot fewer words.)
The system
A small facility acquires and assembles motorised toy vehicle kits, which they sell to retailers. The process involves five stages, painting exterior, drying exterior, mechanical assembly, electronics fitting and testing. The process operates for 60 hours per week. The probability density function applied to model each of these tasks is available in a document on Moodle. Five operators are employed, one for each station but space restrictions (initially) prevent any buffering.
(a) Build a Simul8 model of the facility. Ensure that a different graphic is displayed for the possible states, working, waiting and blocked, that each station may be in (but use the same graphics for all stations). Display pie charts for the working states of each of the stations.
Save this model as Frank Leonard No Buffers.s8 (but with your own name). Use the model to estimate both the work content and the throughput per week.
(b) Additional space becomes available and the manager estimates that this will permit a total buffering capacity, across all stations (exclude the first), of up to 10 units to be provided. You are to explore the problem as tp where the buffers might best be placed. (Do not assume that the full capacity of 10 will be used. A buffer that is provided but not used will consume physical space that might be better used for some other purpose).
Note that there are several hundred possible configurations so a complete search will not be practical. Examine your model carefully and make intelligent choices (as opposed to guesswork) as to where improvements might be made. But document everything you do, even modifications where you expected an improvement but did not observe one.