Simulation-based analysis of shared manufacturing systems

Abstract Advancements in information and communication technologies are encouraging researches in shared manufacturing systems, especially on current high-competitiveness and low-resources scenarios. This paper aims to compare productive resources sharing with traditional manufacturing systems by using a simulation-based optimization model. The model is based on the One Product Integrated Manufacturing paradigm in which the efficiency optimization is pursued by designing ad-hoc virtual factories allocating the best resources available on an existing network. The proposed simulation-based optimization model is capable of identifying the best production path and plan for different distances between network members. Along with a better overall efficiency, it is also possible to argue that dedicated virtual factories ease the identification of problems and allow for improvements without negatively affecting other resources.