The Application of Simulation in Facility Layout Design of an Industry 4.0 Factory

Facility layout planning (FLP) is one of the most discussed industrial topics that affects the performance of a manufacturing system. Conventional approaches have extensively focused on quantitative analyses with a primary focus on cost minimization. The recent technological development in computer-based simulation has provided powerful tools to better visualize and test different layouts in an easier way. In this study, a graphical simulation package is used to showcase the design of a cellular production plant, where the design principle is based on the flexible manufacturing system. The proposed virtual factory demonstrates the possibility of solving FLP challenges under intra-logistics factors in an intuitive and interactive manner. The proposed approach can be highly beneficial for manufacturing companies, especially small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).