Discrete-event simulation that knows the floor
Start with what you already have: the steps, their times and their variation. Machsizer builds the line on a floor plan, so buffers, transport and floor area are part of every result.
Buffers placed and sized
The build finds where the line needs buffers and how big they must be, then removes the ones the simulation shows it does not need.
Transport from the layout
Move times come from where the stations stand. Drag a station: the routes are redrawn and the next run uses the new distances.
What floor space buys
Every design reports its area next to output and cost, so "should we invest in more space for buffers?" gets a number.
No bill of materials needed: a product can be just a list of steps with times and distributions. Add materials, options and dimensions later if you want them.
Breakdowns and shared crews
Add machine breakdowns (as availability in percent, or MTBF and repair time) and a crew shared between stations, and run the same layout again. Then let Auto Generate size the crew and the line for that shift.
- BreakdownsEvery 4 h of work, 20 min to repairSet for five stations in one edit; repairs are random, as on the floor.
- Four operators21 an hour as designed → 14.3 on the shift72 % of target. The crew is 87 % busy; each job waits 21 s on average for someone to be free.
- Crew: autoSix operators, five machines: 19.6 an hour2 % short. Meeting the target would take a second line, twice the machines for 2 % more output, so Auto Generate keeps the line worth buying and says so.
- The other designOne click awayThe 2-line design opens in its own canvas: 20.9 an hour. How close is close enough is a project setting.
Your conveyors, drawn and simulated
Put your roller conveyor and transfer tables in the library. The build fills every gap with your conveyor modules and puts a transfer where the flow splits to parallel stations and merges again; the run moves each unit across on its table.
- ConveyorsYour modules fill each gapFixed lengths or a length per metre, with their price; the layout gives them room.
- TransfersSplit, merge, switch, turnOne table type does every move the line needs; each move takes its handoff and travel time in the run.
- In the runUnits ride the tablesPlayback shows each table carrying its unit across to the next station.
See where the time goes
Play the run back on the layout: in real time, or fast enough to watch an 8-hour shift in about 90 seconds, or jump to any moment. Pick any unit and follow it from station to station with its own Gantt chart.
- PlaybackReal time to a shift in 90 sUnits move through the layout as they did in the run. Slow to real time to watch a queue form at a station, or drag the timeline to any moment.
- One unitFollowed with its GanttClick a unit: the view follows it, and its Gantt shows work, waiting and transport at each station.
- AfterwardsDeep analysisWhere waiting builds up, how long products take, and which station holds the line.