CONTRIBUTION OF COMPUTATIONAL SIMULATION FOR LAYOUT ANALYSIS IN A WOODEN FURNITURE INDUSTRY

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to balance the production line and analyze the layout of the sewing sector in a furniture industry. Using the Arena software, a simulation model was constructed that represented the real system consisting of a cellular layout with 3 groups of 5 seamstresses, who produced 57 different types of products divided into three families, in a daily working day of 625 minutes in the months of February to August and 725 minutes in the months of September to January. The model was quantitatively validated among the managers of the studied industry. The obtained results allowed conclusions with an error of less than 1% in the daily quantity of pieces produced with 99% statistical confidence. Therefore, three scenarios related to the organization of the work environment and the balancing of the production line were constructed, and those include: i) linear layout, and the balancing allowed the division of five seamstresses for families 1 and 2, and three seamstresses for family 3; ii) study of the layout by processes, so that the best balance was constituted of two groups with seven seamstresses; iii) similar to scenario 2 but with six seamstresses in group 1 and seven seamstresses in group 2. It was verified that the modified, alternative scenario 2 is more advantageous for the organization, since it presents greater productivity compared to all other scenarios and to the real system, so the company can increase its production capacity by simply modifying the layout and organizing the work environment.