Animated simulation of a flexible manufacturing system

Abstract

A flexible manufacturing system requires computer control of a variety of machines, complicated product routings and mixing, and costly installation. To reduce potential design errors and associated financial risk, simulation techniques must be employed. This paper applies animated simulation to a flexible robotic inspection cell, a flexible wave soldering cell, and an automated guided vehicle system (AGVS) in one of Intel's integrated circuit assembly plants in Arizona. The flexible robotic inspection cell consists of two inspection stations, two robots, a programmable conveyor system, and input/output mechanisms. The simulation identifies the units per hour (UPH) of the cell, and operator's utilization which gives clues to multiple cell handling. The flexible wave soldering cell includes a wave soldering machine, a loader, and an unloader. The simulation provides insights to critical design parameters of the loader/unloader and the number of operators that are necessary to maintain smooth operation of the cell. In the AGVS, one automated guided vehicle (AGV) and 21 docks are used. The AGV picks up or drops off a tote of materials on each dock. Excessive raw material delivered to each dock increases manufacturing cost; however, too little will increase the number of AGV. The simulation is used to identify the optimal quantity of material in a tote.