Integrated Scheduling of a Two Stage Supply Chain Network using Simulation – A Case Study

This paper is the result of the work carried out to study the performance analysis of two stage supply chain network using simulation. The objective of study is to model an integrated system for a two stage supply chain network of an automobile company and measuring the performance parameters and establishing the priority decision and queuing rules for improving the utilization of resources. The study is restricted to measuring operational processes in a two stage supply chain between the supplier manufacturer distributors. The qualitative data collected has been used to understand the various processes in the supply chain at the stage of component manufacturing and sub-assembly at suppliers, assembly in the final line at the manufacturer plant and the logistics involving the supplier and manufacturer on one hand and the manufacturer and distributor on the other. The data collected have been modeled using the simulation package PROMODEL, using manufacturing oriented modeling elements and rule based decision logic. The data obtained as output from the suppliers has been fed as input arrival data into the manufacturer model to facilitate integration. Rule based decision logics have been applied to the models developed and its behavior on the application of various PDR (Priority Decision Rule) has been documented. Performance measures have been obtained for various scheduling logics.