Case studies

Bryden Wood, with Tata Steel and the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, developed a simulation model of the automated factory system for truss production planning and scheduling. Using simulation and optimization techniques, Bryden Wood tested different scenarios to increase the factory's throughput. They included and excluded process times and changed the production schedule, which impacted the sizing of different factory areas.

The cladding leak detection shop is part of an automated line of fuel assembly production. Leak control is based on heating the fuel element groups. While warming up, defective units eject the control gas, which is detected by a leak locator. The defected group is divided into two parts. Each part is screened in the same way until the leaking fuel element is found. The model, built in AnyLogic, simulates two algorithms of leak detection shop operation.

The UK Wastewater industry is valued at £8.7 billion and employs 42,000 people. Every day it deals with over 16 billion tons of wastewater, transforming bio-resources into useful by-products like energy. Presently, deregulation and competition are increasing in the wastewater sector, creating opportunities for supply chain innovations at different points of water treatment. Utility companies are now competing against each other to manage bio-resources, making the configuration of wastewater supply chains, and the efficiency of their logistics networks a massively profitable industry.

Stroke causes severe disability, produces high costs for care and rehab, and its incidences are increasing due to an aging population. Thrombosis causes most strokes and if possible, should be treated with thrombolysis (not in the case of hemorrhagic strokes and after 4.5 hours have elapsed). Currently, the process of transportation and internal hospital administration causes the patient to lose valuable time. Mobile Stroke Units have been suggested as a possible improvement.

NIIAS is specialized in railway traffic and infrastructure management. Using AnyLogic NIIAS modeled 5 railway stations for Adler – Alpika Service railway, which is being constructed for Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games.

Decisions made by health care professionals require tools for planning, testing and assessment of new technologies or interventions. The complex structures, interactions and processes involved in health care, make change and innovation an ongoing challenge. Patrick Einzinger and Christoph Urach from DWH Simulation Services and Vienna University of Technology in partnership with the Austrian Association of Social Insurances (AASI) were given an opportunity to analyze public data for the purpose of critical future decision making.

Lean Business Services, a prominent Saudi company in healthcare solutions, faced the difficult task of solving overcrowding in emergency departments. By simulating different scenarios, Lean Business Services was able to analyze resource utilization in order to avoid negative effects and identify areas that could be improved.

SPb-Giproshaht is a consulting company that operates internationally and carries out design, procurement, and construction projects for the mining industry. Their flagship project in this domain is a haulage system optimization project for the mining company Medvezhy Ruchey, one of the largest miners of copper-nickel sulfide ores. Medvezhy Ruchey partnered with SPb-Giproshaht to develop mining haulage simulation models of an ore deposit that could be used for haulage system routing and mining processes optimization.

Engineers at a world-renowned German automotive manufacturer sought a modern and optimized production line for the company’s highly successful commercial van. With over 3.4 million deliveries of the commercial vehicle from various production sites, the company wanted an optimization tool with the flexibility to apply at different plants and account for technologies such as autonomous guided vehicles (AGV). The first stage of the project realized an efficiency gain of 5% and identified further significant gains for the next stage.

Mid-term and operational planning in mining is an area where simulation has become a de-facto standard. Simulation copes well with the planning of mining operations: with its hundreds of interacting machines, overlapping maintenance activities, complex layouts of mine fields, and limited capacity of bunkers and conveyors.That is why the world’s leading mining companies frequently ask for integrated simulation-based tools, with user-friendly interfaces, to support their mid-term and day-to-day operations planning. This was the way the world’s 2^nd largest nickel producer followed.