Constant changes are part of everyday business. By quick response to changing market situations, the sustainability and competitiveness of business operations can be positively affected. The responsiveness of organisations, in turn, is affected by thorough preparation for different scenarios.
Through digitalisation, even working with scenarios can be implemented in a lean and agile manner, utilising modern technology. In industry, one of the specific ways for this is simulation.
Scenarios that can be elaborated through simulation:
Simulation, if anything, deserves to be called lean development work – it can be used for quick testing in a virtual world before moving to real-life production. In many cases, simulation is a more agile, less expensive, and more streamlined testing approach as compared to real-life testing.
Simulation is often introduced in companies in connection with some critical issue, or to investigate a production bottleneck, for example. When the benefits of simulation are revealed in the course of a project, it is often desired to extend them to cover other activities. If the customer decides to make a model maintainable and constantly up-to-date, so that any questions that may come up can be answered quickly, we are already on our way towards a digital twin.
The production volume changes (grows) significantly and it is necessary to find out the structure, capacity, and impacts of material flows in the current production system.
A new product is about to enter production and we need to find out in advance the product’s impacts on practical production arrangements. Are some additional resources required to add the product smoothly to the existing production configuration?
Failure to achieve the desired production volume due to an unknown specific reason. A production process bottleneck must be identified, as well as any problems that can occur after the elimination of the bottleneck.
For example, in case of logistics and routing-related issues, the objective is to determine the best possible product delivery route, as well as how to optimise goods transfer in the warehouse and deliver the correct products at the right time to the right doors of the dispatch centre.
Adequacy of capacity in a so-called greenfield situation, i.e., when starting production at a new location. The objective is to identify the equipment worth investing in and how the production should be reasonably arranged to achieve the best possible efficiency.
Simulation can help with securing the target volumes, supporting investment decisions, and enhancement of production capacity and efficiency. We support our customers in the design of production processes and production concepts. We have also analysed the impact of different production design and production control methods – for example, the overall effects of smaller batch sizes and pull control on forthcoming volumes. In simulation, we use the best tool on the market, the AnyLogic program.
Development of internal logistics may be related to production layout, ways for moving and transporting materials automatically or manually, control methods, collection, or other process development. To achieve the best results, it is a good idea to request the assistance of Pinja’s experts in an early stage of the change planning stage. Well-planned internal logistics is among the key factors of plant profitability.
The planning and optimisation of warehouses and logistics centres improve profitability. We help our customers, for example, with enhancement of collection efficiency and warehouse dimensioning. By simulation, we can identify in advance the best choices among different planning options.
We ensure successful implementation of extensive changes to port terminals; determine in advance the sufficiency of container yards, transport equipment, and loading capacity, dimension vessel capacity to the raw material needs of production, and simulate piloting operations.
Optimisation of transport and distribution requires expertise and experience. Optimisation can save time, equipment, and fuel costs. The transport savings achieved through Pinja’s transport optimisation will have a clear positive impact on the company’s profitability.
With the help of simulation, significant investment savings can be achieved and production performance improved. By utilising simulation:
Pinja constructed simulated production models of the smelting plant’s slabs and billets logistics and of the hot-rolling mill’s roll storage system. In collaboration with the Outokumpu team, the models were complemented with production-related routing data, equipment, warehouses, limitations, and capacities.
“We verified the locations of production-related bottlenecks in various production situations. In addition, we were able to investigate their significance and assess the changes that can be made to advance the load distribution of bottleneck resources using production planning methods.”
The initial simulation project stage contains precise specification in co-operation with the customer. In the course of the specification, our experts elaborate the project objectives, research questions, and source data, and maintain an active dialogue with the customer throughout the project. By simulation and optimisation models suitable for different needs, we can present the scenarios and their impact on production.
Director,
New Business & Consulting
+358 400 837 682
timo.salomaki@pinja.com
Lean Consultant
+358 40 8403 321
aku.makimattila@pinja.com
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