Integrating Simulation and Design of Experiments to Identify Factors for Layout Design

In this paper, the facilities design of a manufacturing layout is conducted by integrating simulation and design of experiments to study the influence of process parameters on the performance of the plant. This research study involves a shop floor wherein the parts contributing to 75% – 80% of the annual revenue are analyzed. This is achieved by selecting a few potential parameters/factors that could affect the time in system of these parts in the plant, and a 2 8 factorial experimental design is conducted to measure the main effects and interactions between these factors. The eight experimental factors include the location of machines, batch sizes of the parts, downtimes and setup times on machines, number and type of transporters, work-in-process container size, and machine utilization. The responses from the designed experiment help us relate the f actors affecting the output of each part to improve the productivity of the plant.