Title: Simulation-based optimisation of the life cycle cost of industrial systems

Authors: Daniele Cerri; Sergio Terzi

Addresses: Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133, Milano, Italy ' Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133, Milano, Italy

Abstract: The transformation of advanced industries from a resource intensive to a sustainable knowledge-based industrial environment is a focal objective of Western countries and institutions. If on the one hand life cycle simulation (LCS) can be seen as an approach for supporting designers and engineers in their work for creating optimal and sustainable solutions, on the other hand an in-depth review of the state of the art has revealed how LCS system had limited functions. The present paper proposes a model to simulate and find optimal life cycle costs and environmental impacts of industrial systems and generating a first concept: simulation is implemented by discrete event simulation (DES), while a genetic algorithm performs the search of optimal solutions. The model is built to be used during the early design phase, in order to support designers since the conceptualisation of the product. This is the phase where it is possible to contribute significantly in the reduction of the costs and/or environmental impacts generated along the whole product life cycle.

Keywords: life cycle simulation; LCS; optimisation; discrete event simulation; DES; genetic algorithms; LCC; life cycle costing; industrial systems; environmental impact; early design phase; product design; product lifecycle management; PLM.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPLM.2015.074133

International Journal of Product Lifecycle Management, 2015 Vol.8 No.3, pp.216 - 232

Received: 27 Jan 2015
Accepted: 26 Jul 2015
Published online: 12 Jan 2016 *

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