Throughput time increase applying discret event simulation and theory of constraints

Abstract

This master's thesis shows how simulation contributes to the research of bottlenecks and shows how it is possible to improve the production process through a technological solution. Prevent Goražde is a company that works in the automotive textile industry and provides a variety of vehicle seat covers. Britax Roemer baby car seat was used as the case for this thesis, with the goal of identifying a bottleneck in the manual work department and finding a solution to improve throughput and resource management. Theory of constraint (TOC) framework was used to analyse manual work department. The time required to prepare the cutout for labelling was identified as a bottleneck in the existing labelling process. The focus was also to describe simulation models, advantages and disadvantages of simulation models, as well as the analysis of simulations of discrete events in FlexSim.

The simulation has shown that the preparation time of cutouts for labelling can only be improved by using newer machines, which drastically reduce the time required to prepare them. By adding two new labelling machines into the labelling process, it is possible to replace five old machines currently in use and reduce human resources from five to two workers using technological solution. Companies in similar industries, such as the automobile industry, can benefit from the simulation performed in this paper.