Insights from simulating JIT manufacturing

Computer simulation, used in the planning stage of a new AT&T electronic assembly shop, allowed the authors to uncover and resolve equipment and operating policy problems. Concurrent planning and simulation modeling was not simple. Planning involved most of the factory’s engineers, whose responsibilities were segmented and specialized; the simulation project team had to draw together information from many sources. The team gained insight into the nature of product flow throughout the shop. It could show how an operating policy in a seemingly isolated area would affect product flow elsewhere. Without this cohesive view, fractionated planning would have allowed design errors that cause gridlock in product flow.