Optimization in a flexible die-casting engine-head plant via discrete event simulation

The current research studies a flexible die-casting plant in order to increase productivity pondering investment risks in case of placing new components in the production line. Digital models were developed by means of a Plant Simulation software package. Modeling tools are helpful to represent the movements and functions of the production line components and also to identify the bottlenecks in the production line which improves the decision-making process to increase the productive efficiency. Several numerical models were evaluated; findings suggest significant reductions in the production cycle times which span from 1.13 to 65.25% at the best scenario. The most drastic change in the simulations was to add a new robot to the system improving the process flow. Moreover, the results suggested that the productivity increased for more than 300%, mainly due to the synchronization of the flexible plant elements.