Simulation-based Data Analysis to Support the Planning of Flexible Manufacturing Systems

. A matrix-structured manufacturing system represents a flexible manufacturing system that combines volume-and variant-flexible production and strives for efficiency. The system is a modular, cycle-independent manufacturing concept in which all workstations are linked by a flexible transport system. Due to the function of the manufacturing system, the requirements at the individual workstations are not known in advance. Therefore, the planning of the material supply according to requirements is a relevant target value in the planning and design of such a flexible manufacturing system. In order to support the planning, the characteristics of material supply can be investigated with the help of an agent-based simulation. However, the simulation results must be examined in more detail in order to be used for planning flexible manufacturing systems. Therefore, data analysis can be used to derive necessary knowledge from the simulation data. In this context, the aim of this paper is to support the planning of flexible manufacturing systems by developing and validating a simulation-based data analysis framework.