Mats Jägstam

Factory flow design and analysis using internet-enabled simulation-based optimization and automatic model generation

Despite simulation offers tremendous promise for designing and analyzing complex production systems, manufacturing industry has been less successful in using it as a decision support tool, especially in the early conceptual phase of factory flow design. If simulation is used today for system design, it is more of-ten used in later phases when important design decisions have already been made and costs are locked. With an aim to advocate the use of simulation in early phases of factory design and analysis, this paper introduces FACTS Analyzer, a toolset developed based on the concept of integrating model abstraction, automatic model generation and simulation-based optimization under an innovative Internet-based plat-form. Specifically, it addresses a novel model aggregation and generation method, which when combined together with other system components, like optimization engines, can synthetically enable simulation to become much easier to use and speed up the time-consuming model building, experimentation and optimization processes, in order to support optimal decision making.

A handbook for integrating discrete event simulation as an aid in conceptual design of manufacturing systems

Despite significant cost savings and the stride towards developing and implementing the virtual factory, few companies have managed to fully integrate simulation as a daily tool in their engineering processes. The objective of the paper is to explore the prerequisites for this integration, using discrete event simulation as an aid for high quality decision making in early phases (conceptual design and pre-study). The paper looks at three aspects of the prerequisites: technological, operational, and organizational and summarizes the main challenges connected to each one of the aspects. The main result presented in the paper is a proposal for a simulation handbook, to be used when integrating simulation into the engineering process. The strength of the handbook is the focus on operational and organizational issues, reflecting different roles with connection to simulation. Future work aims at validating the impact of the handbook.

Why we need to offer a modeling and simulation engineering curriculum

This paper describes some identifiable trends in the manufacturing industry regarding the increased use of simulation tools, especially by small- to medium-sized companies. These trends have resulted in the need for a new type of engineer, namely simulation engineer. This need prompted the University of Skovde to develop a B.Sc. simulation engineering study program. The contents and layout of the program, which started in Autumn 2000, are described. After receiving a firm foundation in manufacturing, logistics and mathematics in the first year, the main focus of the second year is on simulation. In the third year, which includes a substantial examination project, a specialization in manufacturing or in logistics is possible. Although simulation-related examination projects are already now carried out in other study programs, the simulation engineer will be able to cover a larger part of simulation projects and will have a broader overview of available simulation tools.This paper describes some identifiable trends in the manufacturing industry regarding the increased use of simulation tools, especially by small- to medium-sized companies. These trends have resulted in the need for a new type of engineer, namely simulation engineer. This need prompted the University of Skövde to develop a B.Sc. simulation engineering study program. The contents and layout of the program, which started in Autumn 2000, are described. After receiving a firm foundation in manufacturing, logistics and mathematics in the first year, the main focus of the second year is on simulation. In the third year, which includes a substantial examination project, a specialization in manufacturing or in logistics is possible. Although simulation-related examination projects are already now carried out in other study programs, the simulation engineer will be able to cover a larger part of simulation projects and will have a broader overview of available simulation tools.

OPTIMISE: An Internet-Based Platform for Metamodel-Assisted Simulation Optimization

Computer simulation has been described as the most effective tool for de-signing and analyzing systems in general and discrete-event systems (e.g., production or logistic systems) in particular (De ...

Maintenance planning using simulation-based optimization

Properly executed maintenance is a key enabler for the availability of military systems. Hence, increasingly complex military and other technical systems require increasingly sophisticated support solutions. Condition-based maintenance (CBM) is applied to reduce downtime for scheduled maintenance while trying to minimize the need for unscheduled maintenance. A prerequisite for successful application of CBM is condition monitoring, with a corresponding architecture to manage the resulting volumes of data. A maintenance support solution has been developed at BAE Systems Bofors AB, integrating information and communication throughout the maintenance support solution infrastructure. At the lowest level, the architecture involves sensors on each system to track wear and usage. The highest level of the architecture consists of databases with configuration management, usage history, life-cycle models, etc. Information from sensors, databases and simulations needs to be integrated and fused to generate high-level decision support for maintenance planning. This paper outlines the maintenance support framework developed by BAE Systems Bofors AB and examines a novel approach of providing decision support for high-level maintenance planning. A genetic algorithm for simulation-based multi-objective optimization is used to examine the possible planning options. A Pareto-optimal set of plans is found, providing the planner with an overview of the best options available, as well as the means to make an informed trade-off analysis.