Scenario-based simulation approach for layout planning

The requirements of manufacturing companies are growing continuously. The customers demand more and more product variants, shorter delivery times and declining prices. To meet these demands, the production needs to be more flexible, highly automated and changeable. Future success is determined by companies' capability to adapt their factory to this dynamic environment. The future is less predictable than it used to be. One way to consider this, is to look at different future scenarios. This paper shows a scenario-based simulation approach that uses scenario technique, morphological analysis and discrete event simulation to find out factory layout variants that are adequate for future requirements. The approach is verified by a case study. (C) 2012 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.