Objective validation for short-term material flow simulation

Abstract

Material flow simulation, by means of discrete event simulation (DES), is utilized in various industries to support production planning and control. This is due to the fact that changes to manufacturing systems and production strategies can be virtually examined before actual implementation. Since the manual development and repeated adjustment of simulation models is time-consuming and error-prone, numerous studies suggest computerized model generation and synchronization. However, validation of such generated or synchronized models is rarely considered. Here, we present an extendible objective validation technique for the repeated short-term simulation of a generated model. To illustrate this, the technique is applied to a high-volume automotive production line and a series of simulation cycles.