Volatile electricity prices caused by an increase of renewable energy sources push producing companies towards taking in an active role in balancing the electricity grid. Possible actions at the customer side to actively adapt to volatile energy prices are called demand response actions. In production logistics such actions can be the modification of production schedules motivated by possible economic benefits. So far, the focus in scheduling problems has been the optimization in the dimensions of quality, time and costs. This paper presents the results of a simulation study on the economic benefits of demand response actions for a generic production system.
Unvorhergesehene Störungen gefährden in vielen Fällen den Kundenliefertermin. Die Produktionssteuerung hat die Aufgabe, effektiv und effizient auf diese kurzfristigen Störungen zu reagieren. Der Entscheidungsprozess beruht jedoch häufig auf einer qualitativen Analyse einer komplexen Situation anhand subjektiver Einschätzungen durch den Produktionsplaner. Zur Verbesserung der Entscheidungsfindung stellt dieser Beitrag eine App vor, die auf Basis von Echtzeitdaten und einer Simulation des Produktionssystems eine quantitative Entscheidungsfindung ermöglicht.
In manufacturing, adherence to delivery dates is one of the main logistic goals. The production control department has to cope with short-term deviations from the planned route sheets. Because of unforeseen disruptions, e.g. machine breakdowns or shortage of material or personnel, in some situations, the promised delivery date to the customer is at stake. In practice, a fast and reasonable decision on how to deal with the delayed order is required. This decision process is often based on a qualitative analysis relying on the planner’s subjective assessment of a complex situation. To improve the quality of possible countermeasures this paper presents an application, which supports the decision process through a quantified analysis using real-time data from business application systems in combination with a simulation of the value stream. The developed app is part of the decision process and estimates the effect of selected countermeasures to accelerate a delayed order. Performance indicators illustrate the effect of the countermeasures on the specific order as well as the whole system. This approach empowers the planner to assess unforeseen situations and aims to improve the quality of the decision-making process. This paper describes the architecture of the application, its simulation ecosystem, the relevant data and the decision process to select the most effective countermeasures.