Simulation Techniques for Production Lines Performance Control

In the era of Industry 4.0, several advantages for industries come by the implementation of new technologies that play a key role for improving production processes, focusing on working times, product quality, accuracy of operations and other important parameters of the production systems. In order to evaluate these parameters, simulation may be used as a tool to verify (i) the improvement adopted on existing production lines or (ii) the design solutions adopted for a new line, optimizing the processes. The aim of this paper is to investigate the possibility to assess the before said parameters in a specific case study by implementing a Discrete Event Simulation (DES). The study concerns two consecutive workplaces of an automotive assembly line in which three workers are involved in assembly activities. The results demonstrated that the Digital Manufacturing (DM) approach and simulation may be used for verifying the performances of the line, thanks to the evaluation of important parameters, such as the Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE).