Comparativa entre celdas de manufactura y líneas de producción analizando el impacto de las variables productivas en el tiempo de fabricación mediante ProModel

Abstract

Adopting a productive system relating to manufacturing cells or production lines becomes increasingly common, but to decide which of the two systems has to be implemented in an industry is a topic that lacks bibliographic support. The focus of previous studies has been to improve each system separately or modify specific variables that increase a company’s performance. In the present research, through a descriptive-quantitative comparison between manufacturing cells and production lines, it was possible to demonstrate how the modification of the productive variables affects manufacturing times in a different way. Additionally, the variables' level of impact on these times was analyzed through the inclusion of data to the simulation environment ProModel from two products model of the textile sector, T-shirts and Polo shirts. The result was that each variable affects manufacturing times in a different way and the conjunction of them can deliver better results than modifying them individually. In this way, it was possible to demonstrate that: the number of units processed and the work in process tend to deliver better results through production lines; the modification of arrivals and the distance between operations generate greater benefits through manufacturing cells. In addition, the external distances to the stations can be treated equally for both productive systems.