FACTORY OPTIMISATION & VISUALISATION FOR A PRODUCTION LINE
THE CHALLENGE Factory and production line optimisation can lead to significant improvements to the efficiency and cost effectiveness of manufacturing processes. But for many businesses, the challenge is in accessing key data and analysing it to support the decision making needed to realise these benefits. As part of the organisation’s expanding capabilities in electrification, the MTC identified a need to communicate the potential benefits of factory layout optimisation to its customers. In this example, the MTC selected the manufacturing and assembly sequence for an example electric motor. However, the same principles for Business and Factory Optimisation could be applied to a range of broader sector applications such as Batteries, Power Electronics, Hydrogen products, and more. Areas that were identified for optimising the manufacture of electric motors included: the required number of workstations with a view to preventing supply bottlenecks, workstation placement to minimise footprint and time spent moving parts between workstations, and the number of operators necessary to run a production system to utilise its full capacity. These factors are interdependent and multifaceted; consequently, a solution was required to address these complex challenges, and support engineers in making well informed decisions to improve manufacturing efficiency.
MTC’S SOLUTION The MTC applied simulation technology and advanced data analysis methodologies to generate scenarios at different stages and levels of production of the example electric motor, in order to identify areas for optimisation. Simulation techniques allowed analysis to be performed across multiple production factors (e.g. processes, material handling, storage and manual operations) at any one time. Solutions can then be tested for different scenarios (e.g. machinery, system
reconfigurations, shift patterns and maintenance tasks) to help identify likely outcomes.
The data extracted from the simulation was analysed and configured into a dashboard to support users with better understanding the information. These interactive visualisations can display comparative solutions and help individuals from across the business to investigate and understand the data in a more accessible way.
Simulation technology can provide significant benefits when optimising production processes, particularly when applied to emerging themes such as electrification. Its application spans across multiple sectors, and through the use of visualisation demonstrators and digital dashboards, raw data is transformed into a toolset that can inform key decision making whilst minimising risk. Danny McGee Associate Director of Technology Strategy, MTC
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