Simulation and Genetic Algorithms to Improve the Performance of an Automated Manufacturing Line

Simulation in manufacturing is often applied in situations where conducting experiments on a real system is very difficult often because of cost or the time to carry out the experiment is too long. Optimization is the organized search for such designs and operating modes to find the best available solution from a set of feasible solutions. It determines the set of actions or elements that must be implemented to achieve an optimized manufacturing line. As a result of being able to concurrently simulate and optimize equipment processes, the understanding of how the actual production system will perform under varying conditions is achieved. The author has adopted an open-source simulation tool (JaamSim) to develop a digital model of an automated tray loader manufacturing system in the Johnson & Johnson Vision Care (JJVC) manufacturing facility. This paper demonstrates how a digital model developed using JaamSim was integrated with an author developed genetic algorithm optimization system and how both tools can be used for the optimization and development of an automated manufacturing line in the medical devices industry.