Abstract
In footwear industry, more and more enterprises have expanded their production systems. These enterprises face critical challenges recently, such as high labor cost and diverse shoes-type orders. It is necessary for footwear industry to focus on how to response for variation rapidly, increase productivity, and reduce cost. This research developed a multi-site order management simulation model for footwear manufacturing. One that can consider the capacity burden of each plant and the product type differences, and then makes the appropriate allocation to maintain high production performance. First, the workload estimation module (WEM) estimates the time period of the bottleneck that will be used by each order. Thus, it provides the loading information of bottleneck. Then, the order assignment module (OAM) picks out the candidate orders that may fit the capacity requirement to the bottleneck by using the results of the workload estimation module. Finally, the performance evaluation module (PEM) reflects the impact on the manufacturing system resulting from order exchange with production performance including bottleneck utilization, makespan and lateness. The simulation results show that different combinations with different levels of these control factors lead to different production performance according to which response decision makers are trying to optimize. Through the technique of experimental design, this research also justify the effect of different parameter settings on the production performance such as bottleneck utilization.