Resource allocation methodology based on object-oriented discrete event simulation: A production logistics system case study

Resource allocation is always a challenge especially in complicate and uncertain production logistics systems. Production logistics systems, as integrated production and logistics systems, have attracted increased attention in supply chain and industrial production research. This paper focuses on the problem of unbalanced and unreasonable resource allocation caused by the lack of an efficient and practical resource allocation methodology in production logistics systems. We propose a resource allocation methodology for a production logistics system, and provide the specific modelling and simulation procedures. In the case study, we use factor experiment to distinguish bottleneck resources from non-bottleneck resources, and compare the performance of 160 different allocation schemes, and obtain the optimal configuration of each resource including the number of AGV, the speed of AGV and the capacity of each buffer based on the proposed methodology and simulation procedures. The results of the case study illustrate the effectiveness and practicality of the resource allocation methodology based on object-oriented discrete event simulation. Both the case study and the allocation methodology can provide reference for similar resource allocation problems.