Hello,
I have a model simulating a factory where parts are made in a fabrication area and then assembled in assembly lines. Right now I have the model running as a just in time facility where the parts should come out of fabrication right as they are needed in assembly. I am not seeing the expected output with the just in time schedule. I believe this is due to the fact that the facility will actually be ran as a modification to a just in time facility where machines that have idle time will work ahead of the just in time schedule to create some inventory and reduce the peak load on machines by spreading out the load over a greater time. The processors in my model are controlled by global tables that have times, names, and other pertinent information in them. The parts are released by a process flow according to the schedule, which is also a global table. I am wondering how I can simulate the "working ahead" aspect. The problem is I'm unsure exactly how to go about this. My thought is to put a trigger on the machines that when they become idle they search through the list of names to find a list of the parts that run through that machine, decides which of those parts to make ahead based off what other machines the parts run through and what part comes next in the schedule, and then have the process flow release that part so that the machine can run ahead. But even if this logic is the best way to model this I'm unsure how to implement this logic. Unfortunately, I'm unable to post the model, but any advice/ideas would be appreciated.
