Discrete-Event Simulation, Operations Analysis, and Manufacturing System Development Towards Structure and Integration

After more than four decades of presence in the manufacturing industry, discrete event simulation has established itself as a powerful technology for a wide range of strategic, tactical, and operational applications in production, logistics, and supply chain management. Discrete event simulation software packages – although not entirely adequate – are relatively capable, andmethodologies for performing simulation projects are reasonably well-developed and documented. As evidence of what Discrete-Event Simulation (DES) technology can do, successful cases from various industrial sectors abound, showing that DES use can have significant positive impacts on the quality, cost, and time aspects of Manufacturing System Development (MSD) and the Product Realization Process (PRP). Despite a seemingly rosy picture, however, this thesis argues that several problems associated with the adoption and use of DES still exist in industry. First, a majority of companies do not use simulation at all, and many of these do not have enough belief in what simulation can do for their organizations to even consider using it in the future. Second, companies that use simulation do not seem to have realized the full potential of this technology. In the terminology of this thesis, they have not fully integrated simulation into their MSD process. Often, simulation is used on a one-shot basis only, troubleshooting specific problems such as bottlenecks, usually in late stages of the manufacturing system life-cycle, or as a stand-alone tool, both of which reflects a low level of simulation integration, a concept introduced by this author. Despite that reasons for this modest and non-integrated use of simulation in the manufacturing industry have been less than satisfactorily explored (empirical studies in particular are scarce), some conclusions can be drawn as to the nature of these reasons. In brief, these have been found to be attributed to reductionist views on and unstructured approaches to DES integration. At the same time, it seems that academia is not fully addressing the issues needed to overcome this situation.