Data-Driven Simulation for Production Balancing and Optimization: A Case Study in the Fashion Luxury Industry

The paper presents the definition of a data-driven simulation framework and its development using AnyLogic® software for production balancing and optimization in the leather luxury accessories industry. The model has been developed including an industry-oriented set of objects in order to easily replicate the resource configuration and layout mainly used within the analysed context. A case study is therefore conducted to validate the model and confirm its usability. The results of this work demonstrated that the proposed framework can be easily adapted to a shoe joiner using the pre-configured objects. Scenarios have been carried out based on what-if analyses regarding productivity, resources saturation and bottlenecks. This tool can therefore be used as a valuable support to production planning, scheduling optimization, workload and production cycle balancing.