A virtual shop modeling system for industrial fabrication shops

Industrial fabrication is both a production system with a high product mix and a project-based industry. The accuracy of short-term project-based planning, such as estimating and project scheduling, is extremely important for a project’s success. This paper proposes an integrated modeling system that explicitly models the product mix in order to improve the planning accuracy. Automated process planning and a processing time estimation method were implemented through the integration of simulation with such modeling methods as computer aided process planning and artificial neural networks. Two case studies are presented to demonstrate the capability of the proposed system.