Supply chain system sets a foundation for production facilities to utilise hardware and software applications to optimise and improve productivity. In the current trend of the marine industry, shipyards were able to introduce automation and cyber-physical system to their hull panel lines and pipe fabrication facilities due to the presence of established logistical arrangements, factory-like manufacturing feature with fixed conditions of inputs, outputs, and flexibility of modifying production processes. Some of the supply chain systems that have been adopted by many include the lean production concept, Toyota Production System (TPS), just-in-time production (JIT), one-piece flow and Kanban system which were proven effective by the automotive industry to eliminate waste and improve their manufacturing line. However, in the context of shipbuilding, there are three construction stages in chronological order, respectively; fabrication, assembly and block erection. Such logistical system does not extend beyond fabrication stage due to various circumstances; therefore the disproportion in logistical flow between the fabrication facilities and the assembly areas are often not optimised which is counterproductive and overshadows the improvement efforts contributed by the fabrication facilities. This paper presents a logistical process flow between panel fabrication and assembly stage through Flexsim software simulation. An actual case study of a TPS integrated panel line and the block assembly bay will be modelled and validated with the fabrication of a realistic offshore design vessel. Virtual performance of the flow will be investigated to understand the implication of different operating conditions. The outcome of the paper will provide a framework for actual panel line to analyse the feasibility of implementing TPS, and also identify the critical control point to mitigate the effects caused by the disproportion in the panel logistical flow.
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