Facility Layout for SME Food Industry via Value Stream Mapping and Simulation

AbstractRedesigns or changes of the physical factory layout will involve high costs. Applying simulation and value stream mapping (VSM), the manager can see the impacts before the implementation and transform the organization into a minimal cost. VSM is a map of the current and future state of a production system that identifies each step throughout the production process by allowing organization to understand where and what need to be eliminated. In this paper, two types of layout are proposed using the Systematic Layout Planning, which is a systematic way of generating layout alternatives. The proposed layouts are evaluated using the ARENA simulation. The purpose of this paper is to present an application of VSM with simulation during the design of facility layout of an organization. Hence, to further the continuous improvement goals of facility layout, researchers have suggested the use of simulation and discusses the integration of VSM and simulation. The ultimate goal is to design and introduce a value stream that optimises the flow of the entire system - distance between machines, frequency of material movement and capacity