88
4 State of the Art
• No realization of an approach implementing event-based and continuous simulation in combination with optimization in one software tool without the
requirement for challenging interface management and complex data exchange
or synchronization demands.
• The analyzed approaches mainly lack an easy applicability and usability on
different use case scenarios in industry as they do not pursuit a flexible and
modular structure.
• The approaches analyzed are very case-specific and usually involve only few
options regarding parametrization and transfer to other scenarios or use cases.
• In most approaches, the interaction of discrete material and continuous energy
flows, as well as dynamic dependencies, and complex process structures are
not considered in a reasonable level of detail.
• Throughout the analyzed approaches, system boundaries of the inspected areas
and processes are very broad ranging. An integrative view of processes on
production line and factory level to outline conflicts and contradicting requirements and to support the optimization of critical parameters can hardly be
found.
• Hardly any approach allows for the computer-aided optimization of complex production lines with its interactions and dependencies. Most approaches
are limited to machine level evaluation and optimization. The interactions of
machines as well as cumulative effects on a production line and factory level
are generally not considered in detail.
• A comprehensive evaluation, reporting, and visualization of results is required
to support a full documentation of improvements and enable a widespread
understanding of optimization results. The optimization recommendations
must be portrayed comprehensibly to function as an active decision-making
tool.
Considering the identified gaps, the following research questions can be formulated:
How can the energy consumption of a production system be depicted in a simulation
model that can as well be used for optimization scenarios?
In this context, it must be clarified how the energy consumption of machines
can be integrated into the production simulation, which simulation techniques
can be used, and which requirements and limitations arise in combination with
optimization techniques.
4 State of the Art
• No realization of an approach implementing event-based and continuous simulation in combination with optimization in one software tool without the
requirement for challenging interface management and complex data exchange
or synchronization demands.
• The analyzed approaches mainly lack an easy applicability and usability on
different use case scenarios in industry as they do not pursuit a flexible and
modular structure.
• The approaches analyzed are very case-specific and usually involve only few
options regarding parametrization and transfer to other scenarios or use cases.
• In most approaches, the interaction of discrete material and continuous energy
flows, as well as dynamic dependencies, and complex process structures are
not considered in a reasonable level of detail.
• Throughout the analyzed approaches, system boundaries of the inspected areas
and processes are very broad ranging. An integrative view of processes on
production line and factory level to outline conflicts and contradicting requirements and to support the optimization of critical parameters can hardly be
found.
• Hardly any approach allows for the computer-aided optimization of complex production lines with its interactions and dependencies. Most approaches
are limited to machine level evaluation and optimization. The interactions of
machines as well as cumulative effects on a production line and factory level
are generally not considered in detail.
• A comprehensive evaluation, reporting, and visualization of results is required
to support a full documentation of improvements and enable a widespread
understanding of optimization results. The optimization recommendations
must be portrayed comprehensibly to function as an active decision-making
tool.
Considering the identified gaps, the following research questions can be formulated:
How can the energy consumption of a production system be depicted in a simulation
model that can as well be used for optimization scenarios?
In this context, it must be clarified how the energy consumption of machines
can be integrated into the production simulation, which simulation techniques
can be used, and which requirements and limitations arise in combination with
optimization techniques.