Automated post-simulation visualization of modular building production assembly line

a r t i c l e i n f o Simulation is often used to model production processes with the aim of understanding and improving them. In many cases, however, information produced by simulation is not detailed enough and can be misinterpreted. The use of visualization in combination with simulation can provide project participants with a detailed-level model to prevent misinterpretation of information and to understand the production process. The purpose of this research is to automate the visualization process as a post-simulation tool through sharing interactive information between simulation and visualization. The proposed methodology has been applied to the production line of modular buildings with the output of lean, simulation, and visualization in the form of animation. Based on the new scheduling developed by applying lean principles, a simulation model was built and its output was extracted to an ASCII file to be used as input for visualization. 3D visualization was developed using Maxscript in 3D Studio Max for automation of the visualization process. The proposed methodology has been applied to a case study to illustrate the essential features of the work and its benefits for decision making. Modular buildings are prefabricated buildings that started to gain popularity in the early 20th century. The Modular Building Institute (MBI), founded in 1983, defines modular as a construction method or process where individual modules, stand-alone or assembled together, make up larger structures. Even though revenue growth in the modular building industry has recently dropped, it remains a market with increasing benefits. The modular building industry is also becoming more widely recognized for its environmentally-friendly construction process, speed of construction, and waste reduction at cost competitive prices [1]. Further improvement of productivity and potential cost reduction can be gained by redesigning the production process, facility layout, and material handling. Previous research has shown that various disciplines including lean [2,3], simulation, or integrated systems are used to set stable and effective production flow. A combination of these principles has also been used for such purpose; see [5–7]. Computer simulation is defined by Pritsker [8] as the process of designing a mathematical–logical model of a real world system and experimenting with the model on a computer. It can be used to eliminate unforeseen bottlenecks, to effectively use resources, and to optimize system performance before an existing system is altered by the proposed design. There are many existing simulation tools that have been developed …