Automated Wood Frame Panelizing
Executive Summary:
The UCF research team was tasked by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to provide assistance to Glaize Components, a high volume wood frame homebuilding component manufacturer based in Winchester, Virginia. The assistance was provided as part of DOE's innovative Process and Energy Efficiency Review (PEER) outreach program, designed to provide technical support to industrialized housing manufacturers interested in upgrading their products and processes. Glaize recently purchased the first Makron Wall Panel Line, the first practical application of advanced CAD/CAM and flexible manufacturing technologies available to U.S. industrialized homebuilders, and sought to increase line capacity.The EEIH team used Manufacturing Simulation to model the new wall panel line. Simulation results suggested that line capacity could be increased by 8% by introducing a simple line balance scheme. After implementing the necessary software changes, Glaize demonstrated a 7-10% increase in line capacity, with minimal increases in capital and labor. From DOE's perspective, this study is the first step in introducing simulation modeling techniques into an industry that is only now acknowledging the benefits of innovative manufacturing process technologies. It is much easier for the industry to embrace new equipment which can build houses than to accept (and pay for) systems analyses. Yet, it is absolutely critical that the industry and its suppliers understand the important role of modeling in supporting the introduction of new process technologies. Glaize management has repeatedly stressed that the simulation model would have been extremely valuable early in the design of the new line. In summary, the industry still has little inclination to invest in technologies which do not produce immediate, eminently practical results. Therefore, our analytical tools and approaches must be structured to meet the demands of the industry.
Technical Reports & Papers:
Mullens, M. and R. Toleti, Simulating the Makron Wall Panel Line at Glaize Components, Report to U.S. DOE, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, May, 1995. (download this report)
Mullens, M. and R. Toleti, “A Four Day Study Helps Home building Move Indoors,” Interfaces, 26(4)13-24, July, 1996.Download executable simulation animation (8.6MB, ScreenCam animation).
