In this work, a survey of companies has been produc ed from a questionnaire and in-depth inter-views. The aimof the paper is to give a current view of the use of DES (Discrete- Event Simulation) in the indust ry. The ...In this work, a survey of companies has been produc ed from a questionnaire and in-depth inter-views. The aimof the paper is to give a current view of the use of DES (Discrete- Event Simulation) in the indust ry. The companies have been selected in a wide range in e.g. size, capital turno ver and employees. The survey was restricted to Sweden, although the results may be applicable to other countries with similar industrial structure. Some of the companies investigated are also multinational with branches around the world. T o illustrate the differences in production systems different sectors have be en investigated, e.g. the manufacturing industry and energy sector. The manufact uring systems generally differ in that the energy sector is more known for high reliability in their systems and the manufacturing sector tends to work more wit h lean production. Previous surveys of manufacturing efficiency illustrate different aspects. Accor ding to one survey, more than one-third (34%) of the disturbances in two countr ies (the U.S. and Finland) were mainly caused by design-based errors and flaws. The survey also showed the scope of safety problems experienced in the implemen tation and use of flexible manufacturing systems (Jrvinen et al., 1996). Another survey in Germany reports a gap between users and non-users of DES. Man y companies that are not familiar with simulation are not aware of its benefits. The study suggested integrating simulation into the planning processes as a reg ular tool. So far, DES is mostly used in system planning, resource planning and scheduling and production planning (Hirschberg & Heitmann, 1997). The disposition of the accomplished questionnaire had been multiple-choice ques tions in a strict order. The respondents gave their views on what the interviewe r considered relevant for the survey. The questionnaire was mailed to 220 person s in May 2001; a second round for unanswered surveys was dispatched in August 20 01. Replies came from 114 respondents; thus, the reply rate to all questionnaire s sent out was 52%. The replies came in from 80 different companies. Questionswere raised regarding what kinds of decisions are taken from a simulation projec t and questions were also asked regarding the tool itself. Some common problems encountered based on the authors’ knowledge were asked in the questionnaire. The questions were sent to those who had reasonable knowledge of how to work with D ES. Supplementary in-depth interviews were also accomplished. On the question if DES facilitates the decision-making process 79% of totally 3 8 answered to a very large or a large extent. Regarding the question if DES is a useful tool for measuring the availability of equipment for example system verification 73% of 33 responded to a very large or a large extent. A majority o f the respondents genuinely see an advantage with the use of simulation, which i s an important result from the study. The cost reduction aspect of the productio n is also an advantage of DES. On the question eight answered to a very large ex tent and 23 to a large extent of total 39 replies. The question demonstrates tha t the results of a simulation model are indeed used in the real world. Finally, in the question of DES is used for staffing it is indicated that it is not so co mmonly used as for other functions asked for. The staffing issue requires good k nowledge about time measurement of manual labor. The option, however, to include manual work in a simulation model is in many programs extensive and must be a v aluable option to evaluate work intensive parts of production lines and their im provement. To conclude, it could be mentioned that DES is a tool with potential. The use is increasing and 12 of 80 companies investigated in Sweden 2001 are using it, an increase compared to previous stud-ies. Of those 12 companies, four are using t he tool to a large extent. The main advantage according to the survey beside the visualization part is that the knowledge about a system is investigated and doc umented.展开更多
文摘In this work, a survey of companies has been produc ed from a questionnaire and in-depth inter-views. The aimof the paper is to give a current view of the use of DES (Discrete- Event Simulation) in the indust ry. The companies have been selected in a wide range in e.g. size, capital turno ver and employees. The survey was restricted to Sweden, although the results may be applicable to other countries with similar industrial structure. Some of the companies investigated are also multinational with branches around the world. T o illustrate the differences in production systems different sectors have be en investigated, e.g. the manufacturing industry and energy sector. The manufact uring systems generally differ in that the energy sector is more known for high reliability in their systems and the manufacturing sector tends to work more wit h lean production. Previous surveys of manufacturing efficiency illustrate different aspects. Accor ding to one survey, more than one-third (34%) of the disturbances in two countr ies (the U.S. and Finland) were mainly caused by design-based errors and flaws. The survey also showed the scope of safety problems experienced in the implemen tation and use of flexible manufacturing systems (Jrvinen et al., 1996). Another survey in Germany reports a gap between users and non-users of DES. Man y companies that are not familiar with simulation are not aware of its benefits. The study suggested integrating simulation into the planning processes as a reg ular tool. So far, DES is mostly used in system planning, resource planning and scheduling and production planning (Hirschberg & Heitmann, 1997). The disposition of the accomplished questionnaire had been multiple-choice ques tions in a strict order. The respondents gave their views on what the interviewe r considered relevant for the survey. The questionnaire was mailed to 220 person s in May 2001; a second round for unanswered surveys was dispatched in August 20 01. Replies came from 114 respondents; thus, the reply rate to all questionnaire s sent out was 52%. The replies came in from 80 different companies. Questionswere raised regarding what kinds of decisions are taken from a simulation projec t and questions were also asked regarding the tool itself. Some common problems encountered based on the authors’ knowledge were asked in the questionnaire. The questions were sent to those who had reasonable knowledge of how to work with D ES. Supplementary in-depth interviews were also accomplished. On the question if DES facilitates the decision-making process 79% of totally 3 8 answered to a very large or a large extent. Regarding the question if DES is a useful tool for measuring the availability of equipment for example system verification 73% of 33 responded to a very large or a large extent. A majority o f the respondents genuinely see an advantage with the use of simulation, which i s an important result from the study. The cost reduction aspect of the productio n is also an advantage of DES. On the question eight answered to a very large ex tent and 23 to a large extent of total 39 replies. The question demonstrates tha t the results of a simulation model are indeed used in the real world. Finally, in the question of DES is used for staffing it is indicated that it is not so co mmonly used as for other functions asked for. The staffing issue requires good k nowledge about time measurement of manual labor. The option, however, to include manual work in a simulation model is in many programs extensive and must be a v aluable option to evaluate work intensive parts of production lines and their im provement. To conclude, it could be mentioned that DES is a tool with potential. The use is increasing and 12 of 80 companies investigated in Sweden 2001 are using it, an increase compared to previous stud-ies. Of those 12 companies, four are using t he tool to a large extent. The main advantage according to the survey beside the visualization part is that the knowledge about a system is investigated and doc umented.
