Maintainable model based analysis of manufacturing systems

In today's increasingly competitive global markets, it is critical for manufacturing companies to make efficient use of production resources and to reduce the capital held in inventory and work in progress. Model based analyses successfully aid the assessment of improvement opportunities in modern manufacturing environments by capturing the complex interdependencies and constraints (machine dedication, re-entrant processes, rework loops, inspection sampling, etc.). However, such analyses have proven challenging to implement and maintain. A group of diverse manufacturing companies (MNC and SME) based in Ireland have taken a collaborative approach to tackling these challenges. By sharing resources and experiences, these companies aim to develop in-house modelling proficiency and efficient modelling techniques with reduced burden on the individual companies. This paper investigates the effectiveness of this approach and the different challenges faced by the distinct companies involved.