Development of a manufacturing Applet's user interface to enhance its properties as a teaching tool

A manufacturing system's design and operation plays a critical part is the cost, rate and quality of any product. As a result optimization techniques and cost benefit analysis are common practices in any industry involving manufacturing lines. Due to the prevalence of this field of engineering, Dr. Stanley Gershwin has developed a java applet to serve as a learning tool in teaching students about the processes that occur within manufacturing systems. Since these manufacturing systems are often large complex networks of machines and buffers, it can be difficult to critical component of the line and predict how changes in a component could affect the line as a whole. This thesis develops the framework for four different feedback systems which effectively teaches students how to approach problems commonly seen in industry. The 'Constant Buffer Size Tool' aids students in understanding how to optimally reallocate available space between buffers. The 'Buffer Sensitivity Tool' is able to identity which buffer capacity variances have the highest impact upon the line's production rate. The 'Machine Sensitivity Tool' can be used to help students locate bottlenecks throughout a line. Lastly, the 'Buffer Profit Tool' teaches students the relationship between the revenue of a production line and the costs linked to buffer capacity and hold inventory.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2011

Author dc:creator

• Dobson, Michael, S.B. (Michael J.). Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Stanley Gershwin.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/69509

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/69509