Detection of Bottlenecks with Simulation and Process Improvement: A Textile Business Example

Abstract

In order to make improvements in the production process, it is necessary to clearly present and analyze the current situation. When the current situation is analyzed, there are many advantages of using resources, correct detection of bottlenecks in operations and being able to observe the results of possible interventions to these points in advance. In this study, a simulation model of the sewing and post-production stages of a frequently produced blouse in a textile business was developed using Arena software. In order to see the long-term stability of the parameters used as a performance criterion in the developed model, the model has been run 107 times. At the point of determining the operation times as input data, a work study was carried out and input data analyzes regarding the durations of each operation were carried out. The animation method was used in the verification and validation of the model. In addition, the bottlenecks that occurred while observing the current process were observed exactly in the model created. In the proposed model, it was aimed to increase the resource utilization rates of the enterprise, to eliminate the bottlenecks and to increase the amount of output. In the proposed improved model, the resource usage rates were examined in order to increase the performance of the system, the intensity of use in the arm-body jointing operation was reduced and additional resources were assigned to the bottleneck points. According to the alternative scenario, it is seen that the company could increase the output amount from 105 4 to 1482, although it employs 5 less workers, and can provide an increase of 41%