The Development of a Total System Simulation Modelling Approach for Management Decision Support

Abstract

One of the main managerial tasks in a manufacturing environment is that of organisation. This involves the arranging and rearranging of limited resources so that the production activities contribute to the overall objectives of the business. As a result, the management need to make operational policy decisions in order to run their business efficiently. With the increasing complexity of manufacturing information flow and the increased diversity in the requirements of the customer, the manager is faced with the prospect of investing in soundly based tools for controlling production operations. MRPII is such a tool and typically offers a wide range of policy combination choices. The problem lies in deciding which policy combination is Suitable for the production system in question. Many simulation studies have attempted to analyse this problem. However the applicability of their conclusions have been limited by the narrow scope of the models used. Current research now accepts that the complexity of the interactions found in the real production system is such that their representative inclusion in the models used is vital to the validity of the results. This approach has been applied to a specific company, Fulcrum Communications Limited(FCL), who having recently been affected by the privatization of their parent company, showed the criteria necessary to conduct an extensive research study. The particular circumstances of FCL were characterised by a lack of relevant historical data. This, in conjunction with their recent investment into an automated manufacturing facility and an MRPII system lead to the development of an experimental facility which was designed to evaluate system control policy combinations. The resulting model produced a detailed simulation of the manufacturing facility at FCL which communicated in real time with an integrated model of the currently implemented MRPII system. This ‘total’ model approach first considered the bounds of the system model and then used sophisticated computer hardware and comprehensive computer software to simulate the factors which had a significant effect on the efficient running of the production system. To this end the development of the total model and its potential application as a management policy decision aid in a production system environment is discussed. Key Words: Simulation, MRP, Policy Design