Abstract
This paper introduces a simulation study regarding the operation of the Painted Body Storage (PBS) in an automobile factory. In the paint shop of the factory, same colored bodies are grouped together in order to increase the effectiveness of process, for example decrease the loss of cleaning the painting-gun when the color of body changes from one to another. However the production of automobiles in the assembly shop is a typical example of the mixed model assembly production. Therefore PBS locates between the paint shop and the assembly shop for control the input sequence of bodies to the assembly shop, and it enables to meet the smoothing requirement of assembly sequence. There are highly restricted constraints on the assembly sequence in a assembly shop. Those are spacing restriction and smoothing restriction. If such restrictions are violated, conveyor-stop or utility work will be necessary. Thus the major objective of PBS is to control the assembly sequence in a way to meet the two restrictions. In this paper a case study of PBS in an automotive factory is introduced. The storage/retrieval algorithms are suggested and the proposed system is verified using simulation models. Sensitivity analysis for operating factors is also conducted.