Internet of things and simulation approach for decision support system in lean manufacturing

Today, Industry 4.0 concerns a rapid advancement in manufacturing technologies which help industries increase their productivity. To adopt Industry 4.0 concept is still visionary by certain lean manufacturers when the communication technologies interfaces are not fully equipped at the production system. Most of the facilities towards digitalization are also expensive and require many specialists in different fields to manage the technologies. Therefore, most data analytics (DA) engineering is cannot be employed broadly for process enhancement by Industry 4.0 environment. However, starting with Internet of Things (IOT) concepts, Andon system with simulation was enhanced to support decision making in lean manufacturing. The aims of this research paper is to develop a decision support system (DSS) framework which intersects between Andon and simulation through IOT concept. A better decision-making information flow are demonstrated in detail. To illustrate the applicability of the DSS, it has been implemented in lean manufacturing for automotive part assembly. The results indicate that the DSS can easily be adopted in digital factories to support in planned and operational activities.