Real-time shop floor operations improvement based on dynamic value stream mapping and hybrid simulation in Industry 4.0: an economic perspective

With increased market competition and the development of Industry 4.0, production operations is being driven towards increased flexibility. Multi-product flow and variable production processes on the shop floor complicate waste identification, analysis, and reduction. To continuously improve based on real-time information in dynamic production processes, this paper proposes an integrated approach of dynamic value stream mapping and hybrid simulation(DVSM-HS). The dynamic value stream mapping(DVSM) is extended from time temporal and economic dimensions respectively to decompose and integrate work-in-process sequences and processes. A dynamic cost model is constructed based on time-driven activity-based costing to extract the variable costs of production resources. By combining hybrid simulation of discrete events and system dynamics, variations in multi-product flows are captured and mapped, and their economic impact over time is quantified. A case study in an automotive painting workshop demonstrates the practical application of waste reduction and decision-making across different scenarios. The results show that the proposed DVSM-HS can address process variability by identifying the temporal and spatial characteristics of waste. Based on waste localisation and economic evaluation, this study supports managers diagnose problems and conduct Lean improvements in real-time operations, optimising resource and capability allocation to enhance production profitability.