Virtual Planning of a Metal Additive Manufacturing Factory Using Techno-Economic Hybrid Simulation Models.

Factory simulation can guide leaner production operations and resilient supply chains by informing capital allocation and real-time decision-making. This is especially true for emerging production methods, like additive manufacturing (AM), where a lack of expertise and relative technological novelty make it difficult to quantitatively assess technology economics across applications. While reported cost models provide detailed analysis on the AM printing process, accurate modeling requires specific evaluation of process-level and production-level considerations that significantly impact factory dynamics and cost. Advances in factory simulation modeling therefore promise the development of comprehensive and actionable cost models. This paper reviews progress in simulation-based costing, hybrid simulation, and automated model generation, and proposes an integrated approach for cost modeling using an AM-based factory. We demonstrate the feasibility of this approach by simulating the production of two common AM part geometries, and evaluate the associated cost and time performances of different factory configurations.