A method and system for determining the utilization of process equipment in a manufacturing environment based on automated material handling system properties

摘要

By determining a measure of plant utilization in a manufacturing environment based on plant-specific properties and a probability distribution for the transportability of an automated material handling system, the impact of the transport system on plant performance is efficiently determined. For this purpose, an average delay caused by the automated material handling system is calculated iteratively based on a corresponding required bin replacement time, which depends on plant and process specific characteristics. From the corresponding mean delay, a suitable measure, such as a utilization loss factor, is determined.