Authored By:
Zohair Mehkri, Mike Doiron
Flex Milpitas, CA
Summary
Every year, billions and billions of products are made and sold across the world. Each of these products, regardless of volume, are made in facilities that follow certain steps to assemble, test, and ship to customers. The steps that are taken to fulfill demand are an extremely interesting and valuable source of information. When modeled, simulated and analyzed, these steps can offer phenomenal insight on the overall process. This practice in the industry is called Discrete Event Simulation. Discrete Event Simulation, (namely DES) is the process of modeling a real-world phenomenon or system of operation as a sequence of discrete events. Discrete events in this context are described as instances that occur in a particular point in time with no change to the phenomenon or system between each event. Discrete Event Simulation is different than Continuous Event Simulation where the system is continuously changing due to a response to certain mathematical formulas and will not be covered in this paper.
This paper will provide an overview of discrete event simulation in general, explain the different types of model taxonomy used in academia and industry, as well as discuss the importance and value of using these tools and practices in electronics manufacturing operations. Lastly, this paper will discuss challenges in adoption as well as a call to action for Discrete Event Simulation software providers and an outlook on where the industry is going from the perspective of Flex. In the context of this paper, “electronics manufacturing operations” refers to the assembly (both automated and manual), test (both automated and manual) and the shipping (both automated and manual) of electronic products.
Conclusions
Overall, as illustrated through this paper, Discrete Event Simulation is a very insightful technology, especially in the area of manufacturing operations systems and when utilized properly in systems such as electronic manufacturing operations systems, it can offer much needed information and data for driving effective and accurate business decisions. Of course, as with any aid tool, there are disadvantages and the outputs should be used as reference points and estimations but even such, a reasonable understanding can be drawn from these advanced tools. Due to the powerful algorithms and mathematical models that have evolved through the decades of the tools in the industry, as well as the growth and advent of industry revolutionizing initiatives such as the Internet of Things and Industry 4.0, a bright future is seen for simulation in general and especially Discrete Event Simulation.
Concepts such as the Digital Thread and the Digital Twin will further drive simulation development in the industry and will help increase its adoption worldwide as well as give more reason for the tools to develop further and expand. Simulation has a bright future and it is exciting to think about what will happen in the coming decade with this fascinating technology and technique.
Initially Published in the SMTA Proceedings
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