Automation of Kanban modelling through object-oriented visual-interactive simulation

Kanban is a control system performing routine material control transactions on a shop floor. Object orientation (OO) is a modelling approach with properties, e.g. inheritance, encapsulation and reusability. These properties of Kanban and OO have led to the idea of creating object classes performing the Kanban process automatically. Through the application of this idea, potential users do not have to model Kanban separately for their own models. They can model Kanban-controlled manufacturing systems by exploiting the object classes created previously. This enables them to focus on only their own models, without considering Kanban itself, and, consequently, the modelling time is reduced significantly. During a simulation run, Kanban is simulated automatically. An OO and visual-interactive simulation language, SIMPLE++, has been used for modelling. The advantages of this approach over conventional simulation have also been discussed and demonstrated.