Page 33 - Remembering ISTEL
P. 33
Remembering ISTEL
Operational research - visual simulation
The Operational Research (OR)
unit ot BL Systems Ltd consists
of people with a wide range of
experience in developing and
implementing solutions to
problems covering a
considerable area of the
business Projects covering, for
example, sales forecasting,
production planning, new
model timing, line balancing
and many others, have been
successfully tackled.
One area in which OR has been
very much concerned is facility
simulation, working on the LC 8.
Allegro body in white, Castle
Bromwich / Jaguar body supply, and Land Rover engine and assembly areas.
Improvements of the order of 10-20% in throughput and facility utilisation are
possible if modelling is used prior to laying out the facility
The OR Unit are currently developing a new method of demonstrating
simulated factory layouts using a large colour visual display terminal. Using
this system a body in white store and paint process can be shown on the screen
and bodies moved through the system at the appropriate rates. In this way, a
whole day's production can be simulated in a few minutes and the build up of
queues or lack of appropriate body types shown The system is also 'interactive'
— body movement rates times through the paint process, etc. can be varied at
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