Simulation Approach to Enhance Production Scheduling Procedures at a Pharmaceutical Company with Large Product Mix

One of the most challenging tasks for any industrial firm with a large product mix is the creation of a robust production schedule. In addition, it is not an unusual practice that last minute orders arriving with higher priorities will necessitate modifications to the existing schedule. The validity check of the production schedule is an important step, as it will affect the production plan, the allocation of resources, and may have a direct influence on the cost of subsequent setups. In this article, we introduce a discrete event simulation approach to obtain a reliable and fast scheduling analysis. The proposed methodology will evaluate the credibility of the generated schedule by measuring resources utilization, identifying bottlenecks, throughput, and evaluating the impact of each item in the product mix on these performance measures. The model will then highlight potential changes to the product mix and resources allocation as needed. The purpose of this research is to offer researchers a reliable and flexible approach to evaluate validity of modifications to production schedule. First, a parametric simulation model concept is introduced, and then the simulation results and analysis for a case study are presented. The proposed methodology was successfully applied to three production facilities at a major pharmaceutical company in Jordan. Monthly schedules at these facilities were analysed and the ability to meet production requirements were evaluated. Simulation results highlighted necessary changes to schedule and resources.