Summary
- Profile Type
- Technology offer
- POD Reference
- TOES20230915011
- Term of Validity
- 15 September 2023 - 14 September 2025
- Company's Country
- Spain
- Type of partnership
- Research and development cooperation agreement
- Commercial agreement with technical assistance
- Targeted Countries
- All countries
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General information
- Short Summary
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A Spanish university offers a support tool that uses hybrid simulation (discrete and agent-based) to optimize production volume and mix, especially for the extended Goldratt PQ problem, to aid decision-making. It enhances operational efficiency and adaptability in dynamic manufacturing scenarios.
They are looking for commercial and/or research cooperation agreements. - Full Description
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A Spanish researcher has developed a powerful decision support tool for production management, particularly addressing the extended Goldratt PQ problem. This innovative tool enables managers to make informed decisions and it offers valuable insights into manufacturing system behaviour under conditions of uncertainty regarding production volume and product mix.
This innovative tool utilizes hybrid modelling and simulation techniques, combining Petri Nets for system dynamics modelling and intelligent agent-based simulation for complex manufacturing systems. The result is a versatile simulator that allows experimentation with real-world production scenarios and the evaluation of decision impacts on manufacturing system flexibility.
The PQ problem extended simulator's significance lies in its ability to analyze manufacturing system behaviour under varying levels of uncertainty, enabling anticipatory insights and informed decision-making. It provides valuable support to managers by offering a deeper understanding of the system's performance over time.
This simulation software opens the door to more efficient production management and data-driven decision-making in manufacturing environments, potentially enhancing organizations' profitability and adaptability.
The university is interested in contact with different partners. Commercial agreements are sought and partners for research cooperation agreements are welcome as well. - Advantages and Innovations
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The PQ problem extended simulator is a tool that allows experimentation with the well-known Goldratt PQ Problem production system.
To provide greater realism and similarity to a real production system, the PQ problem extended has been extended with uncertainty in both production volume and mix. In this way, the PQ problem extended offers an appropriate framework for analyzing the behavior of managers and the impact of their decisions on manufacturing system flexibility.
To implement this PQ problem extended, hybrid modeling and simulation techniques have been used. Modeling has been done through Petri Nets, a common choice for capturing the dynamics of agent-based systems, representing the operation of the production system over time. Regarding simulation, discrete simulation has been used to implement a future event list, which is necessary for advancing the simulation clock and managing the sequence of discrete events that trigger actions.
Additionally, intelligent agent-based simulation has been utilized, as this decentralized approach is considered highly suitable for analyzing the complex behavior of flexible manufacturing systems that rely heavily on interdependencies in variable environments. Systems are created from the interaction of their basic units, agents, so the global system is modeled as a multi-agent system, where individual agents interact in a changing environment and cooperate to achieve collective objectives.
Main advantages:
• Allows for the identification of current issues and potential improvements in the sequencing of manufacturing and production systems.
• Takes into account sources of uncertainty, both in production volume and mix, thereby enhancing the practical utility of the proposed solutions.
• Facilitates experimentation before implementing decision-making in real manufacturing and production systems. - Stage of Development
- Available for demonstration
- Sustainable Development Goals
- Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
- IPR status
- IPR applied but not yet granted
Partner Sought
- Expected Role of a Partner
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The tool extends the PQ problem in a way that analyse manufacturing systems considering various uncertainties in production volume and product mix. Through simulation, it enables proactive decision-making by assessing how these uncertainties impact the system’s economic performance over time, providing valuable insights before implementing changes in real production systems.
In addition, they are looking for a research groups and research institutions to collaborate to transfer and bring the technology to the next level and, additionally, apply for European funds. - Type and Size of Partner
- SME 11-49
- SME <=10
- SME 50 - 249
- University
- Big company
- R&D Institution
- Other
- Type of partnership
- Research and development cooperation agreement
- Commercial agreement with technical assistance
Dissemination
- Technology keywords
- 01004003 - Applications for Transport and Logistics
- 002006009 - Simulation, Simulation Engineering
- 02003004 - Supply chain
- 01003006 - Computer Software
- 02003002 - Manufacturing plants networks
- Market keywords
- 02007011 - Manufacturing/industrial software
- 02006004 - Data processing, analysis and input services
- Targeted countries
- All countries