The Impact of AGVs and Priority Rules in a Real Production Setup – A Simulation Study

This real-world simulation study analyzes a newly planned factory layout of a production company. Therefore, the first goal is the validation of the layout concerning bottlenecks, e.g., buffers, machines, and the planned transportation organization. The second goal is the analysis of different possible improvements, regarding scheduling (different priority rules) and automatic transportation with Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs). The best number of AGVs in terms of cost and logistic service level for the selected scenario is determined by the simulation study. Scheduling methods for jobs and AGVs are also compared, since they have high impact on the goal criteria, e.g., lead times. The study shows, that the selected layout including machine capacities is able to handle the estimated amount of occurring jobs in the future. Further, an effective setup for the scenario could be found, which also supports the requirements of flexibility.