Analysing the effects of Lean manufacturing using a value stream mapping-based simulation generator

Value stream mapping (VSM) has become a popular implementation method for Lean manufacturing in recent years. However, its limitations such as being time-consuming, its inability to detail dynamic behaviour of production processes and to encompass their complexity, have spurred us to turn to simulation. This paper introduces two new elements to the value stream mapping method. First, it describes how the value stream mapping paradigm (VSMP) can be adapted for use in simulation, introducing specially designed VSM objects. Secondly, based on the VSMP and these objects, it presents a formal modelling method and its related database structure, that drives a generator which automatically yields a simulation model of the value stream map. In this way, a model generator, using the set of objects and the model database, can generate simulation models of Current and Future VSM scenarios quickly and automatically. Additionally, algorithms for converting raw ERP data and information from a VSM drawing into tables of the structured database are developed. Finally, the formal modelling method is applied to a real company case. A Current State model of the manufacturing system and three scenarios of Future States are generated to see the effects of Lean when transforming part of the system from push to pull.