Workload Assessment for a Sustainable Manufacturing Paradigm Using Social Network Analysis Method

Abstract

In this paper, focus is on the sustainable manufacturing systems functionalities, i.e., process planning and scheduling for effective and efficient performance of the system to achieve the desired objectives. The desired objectives for this research work have been considered according to the above-mentioned situation. Hence, makespan, throughput time, and energy consumption were identified as the most appropriate performance measures in line with the context of the problem. Mathematical model will be formulated for the performance measures by considering the realistic constraints. Unpredictable events such as machine breakdown or scheduled maintenance are most common in any manufacturing unit. Workload assignment with these disruptions is a challenge, and therefore, a new methodology has been developed for effective and efficient solutions. In this paper, a new social network analysis-based method is being proposed to identify the key machines that should not be disturbed due to its contribution toward achieving the best system’s performance. Moreover, an illustrative example along with three different configurations will be presented to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach. For execution, a Flexsim-based simulation approach will be followed, and with different instances, the proposed methodology can be executed. The validation of the proposed approach and its effectiveness will be evaluated through comparison with different instances, and finally the efficiency of the proposed approach will be confirmed with the results.