FINDING THE NEW NORMAL
Businesses looking to meet the challenges of the ‘new normal’ and get more staff safely back into the workplace can now tap into the experience and knowledge of the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) North West.
AMRC North West was established in Lancashire to aid the county’s manufacturers in adopting new technologies.
It is now looking to use the experience that colleagues at AMRC Cymru in North Wales gained from being part of the Ventilator Challenge UK consortium, to support a range of businesses as they work towards getting back into full production.
The AMRC’s work at its operation in North Wales at the height of the coronavirus crisis helped to deliver 10 years of ventilator
processes to evaluate system performance, optimise resources and perform ‘what-if’ scenario testing.
These models can run along physical systems in real time to achieve predictive analyses and they can be an important tool in getting more workers back onto the shop floor.
There are five key stages in the creation of an effective model through the use of DES:
Stage 1. Identify the objectives for the simulation. Is it to maintain or enhance productivity? Is it to provide confidence in the safety of returning to work? Government guidelines can be built in to the model.
Stage 2. Define the KPIs. The value of a model is that it can be used to assess and compare any proposed alterations to current KPI’s.
Collaborative robots and workstation adaptions
HoloLens headsets can fast-track training
production in just 10 weeks by creating a “Covid compliant” workplace.
At the heart of that work was Discrete Event Simulation (DES). Traditionally used to optimise processes and highlight potential bottlenecks, DES is the ‘go to’ tool to highlight areas of concern for employers when introducing employees back to the new normal.
The AMRC has proven expertise in modelling manufacturing facilities or business
Stage 3. Plan the simulation. The defined KPIs will help establish exactly what needs to be simulated to accurately generate actionable data.
Stage 4. Run the simulation. When the model is populated, the simulation can be modified to include multiple scenarios.
Stage 5. Report results. According to business KPIs, provide a report detailing any issues and/or corrective actions.
AMRC North West’s commercial director Melissa Conlon said: “We are looking to use our experience gained from producing thousands of life-saving ventilators at our factory in North Wales to support Lancashire manufacturers in this ‘new normal’.
“However, some of the things we did would be really useful, not just to manufacturers, but other organisations as they work to get more staff back into the workplace safely.
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