Simulation model of production as tool for industry 4.0 implementation into practice

Abstract

The article deals with the process of Industry 4.0 implementation into practice through simulation. The aim of the paper is to point out the possibilities of computer simulations in creating models of real production plants. The research is carried out as a case study of a production plant in a Slovak machine-building company dealing with the components for the automotive sector production. The process of creating a simulation model of a production line consisting from two CNC machining centers is presented. Subsequently the output statistical characteristics of the real-time model are obtained from the simulation model. The simulated model of the manufacturing plant and its components is the basis for the comprehensive deployment of Industry 4.0 strategy into practice. We expect that in the coming years there will be an increased demand for creation of simulation models of manufacturing systems by modern enterprises that will try to implement the Industry 4.0 strategy and thus increase its competitiveness. The results of our simulation models have shown that the production line is not efficient enough and it will be necessary to create a more detailed simulation model with major adjustments. More than 60 % of the overall process time mainly consists of waiting and blocked time, which leads to inefficient production with the machining time only 38 % at maximum. The most efficient station was Stama with 73.67 % of the working time, but we expect to increase the production for this station as well with some changes to the whole production line.