A Line Balancing Simulation System for the Footwear Industry

This paper reports the main results relative to a project concerning the development of a simulation-based scheduler (System SABE - Sistema de Apoio an Balanceamento e Escalonamento) for a manufacturing system, in a large Portuguese footwear industry. The physical system under consideration is, basically, a flexible flow line (the Transporter) and an automatic warehouse, which supplies the line with boxes containing the mix of components. The implementation of such a system is a response to the need of technological innovation to face new challenges in this fashion industrial sector. The flexibility of the line allows the system to manufacture simultaneously various products in lower quantities, but it also increases the complexity of the line balancing and the automatic selection of the boxes, from the warehouse - therefore the relevance of a software system to support production scheduling in the lines. The simulation model is described and it is explained that it may be used to analyse an ongoing production plan and to effectively support and guide the scheduling of all the operations in the line. The simulation package used is SIMPLE ++. The main results, which can be obtained by the system SABE, are presented. Conclusions are drawn, in particular the practical advantages reported by the footwear industry.