Journal of Engineering, Project, and Production Management, 2025, 15(2), 0010
Comparing Alternative Power Control Policies in a Manufacturing Line Using Simulation
1Graduate Engineer, Department
of Production & Management Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace,
12 V. Sofias, 67100, Xanthi, Greece, E-mail: thanasis.biblias@gmail.com
2Assistant Professor, Department of Production & Management
Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, 12 V. Sofias, 67100,
Xanthi, Greece, E-mail: axanthop@pme.duth.gr (corresponding author).
Production Management
Received June 9, 2022; revised July 10, 2022; June 26, 2023; accepted November 18, 2024
Available online April 25, 2025
Abstract: As the public becomes more aware of environmental issues, there is a growing trend amongst manufacturers in adopting eco-friendly production practices. Consumers are increasingly favoring green manufacturers, and firms are realizing that the implementation of sustainable production processes tends to become a prerequisite for success. Reducing pollution through energy conservation is a key aspect of green manufacturing. Energy – efficient production processes improve the environmental impact of manufacturing while at the same time reducing production costs. In this paper we use discrete event simulation to evaluate and compare alternative power control policies in a manufacturing line. We examine a serial line that consists of several machines in tandem that are separated by buffers. The manufacturing line produces a single part type and completed products are stored in the finished goods at the end of the line. Stochastic demand patterns are considered, and if there is available inventory at the time of a demand arrival then the demand is satisfied immediately. If there is no available inventory at that time, then the demand is backordered and served at a later time. The system operates under a kanban production control policy that coordinates the manufacturing process according to actual demand realizations. We examine four existing power control policies, namely the “always on”, “upstream”, “downstream”, “upstream and downstream” heuristics and we propose a new power control policy. The alternative power control schemes are evaluated in a series of simulation experiments under several performance metrics and conclusions regarding their effectiveness in various settings are drawn.
Keywords: green manufacturing, production line, kanban, power control policy, simulation.
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Citation: Biblias, A. and Xanthopoulos, A. (2025). Comparing Alternative Power Control Policies in a Manufacturing Line Using Simulation. Journal of Engineering, Project, and Production Management, 15(2), 0010.
DOI:
10.32738/JEPPM-2025-0010
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