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Automotive Plant Layout and Planning has been a challenging problem with diverse and often conflicting goals. OEMs seek to achieve space optimization, minimum no. of equipments (for lower cost), optimal Robots’ utilization and higher production rate, all at the same time. Their engineering teams rely on domain experts who come up with and initial hypothetical solution (may be this is based on a previous similar existing solution or a completely new idea) which is then evaluated against the program metrics and if they are not met, the solution is optimised and thus the initial solution keeps on getting optimised until a workable solution is reached. Once an acceptable solution is found, no further attempt may be made to see if a better solution exists.
Further complexity is added when the product development team changes the panel data, the joining definition and often, also, the build process. This entire process gets really time consuming and wasteful in situations where this plant engineering activity is outsourced to an outside engineering company. Since this supplier is not integrated with the OEM’s design environment the data is generally pushed in only one direction from OEM to the engineering company. This data tends to become the master for the planning activity at the engineering company. Of course, there is always a feedback mechanism during this Simultaneous Engineering phase, but factors like disconnected databases, location of the teams etc. act as hindrance in bi-directional discussions to find the optimum solution.
General characteristics of Plant layout and planning process:
1.Objective is to optimize for various constraints, e.g. space, capex, cycle time, equipment utilization etc.
2.A highly iterative process.
3.Starts with an initial hypothetical solution.
4.Dependent on few domain experts/existing best practices
Challenges that act as natural barriers against Optimization:
1.The input conditions keep on changing as the product data matures
2.Disconnected PD & ME teams
3.Disconnected databases (when the engineering is outsourced)
“After a workable solution is achieved, no conscious effort is made to have a fresh look at the solution. There is a chance that a better solution exists.”
There are solutions available in the market, e.g. Process Designer, Manufacturing Planner, etc. which assist the planner to measure the efficiency, utilization and other performance parameters. But there is no solution existing that gives out an initial optimised solution to the planner to start with and, more importantly, one that quickly re-optimizes when the input conditions have changed. And hence the planner is still required to synthesise the solution on his own and then go through the subsequent steps in an inefficient iterative process, often leading to sub-optimal results.
Quick Summary
Existing planning solutions are insufficient because they only measure the performance of the given input.
Conclusion
We need a solution that gives an initial optimised solution and also which quickly re-optimizes when the input conditions have changed.
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