Virtual simulation of new Boeing facility based in Sheffield
Tim Underwood, BoeingUsing DES has given Boeing a holistic view of the factory floor operations that will take place in Boeing Sheffield, before construction was even complete.
The University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) has developed a virtual simulation model of the new Boeing Sheffield facility. The model will help to validate the opportunities Boeing has to increase productivity by up to 50 per cent.
As part of the Smart Factory research project, the AMRC are working on for Boeing, its Manufacturing Intelligence Group has worked closely with the Boeing team to create a virtual simulation model using Discrete Event Simulation (DES) techniques to examine the potential capabilities of their new factory and to validate opportunities for increasing productivity.
The key benefits of using simulation for factory floor planning are:
• Optimising factory flow to improve productivity
• Examine the impacts of uncertainties
• Validate new technology introduction