Research on the Operation Improvement of An Automobile Spare Parts Distribution Center by Using FlexSim

One of the key problems distribution centers face is the excess makespan and transportation waste incurred during repackaging and storage operations. This paper conducts an operation improvement for a distribution center of automobile spare parts, by collecting and analyzing its operation data, identifying bottlenecks and using FlexSim as a "what if" tool for event simulation experimentation and workload balancing. The simulation results are normalized and an improved solution for both makespan and transportation reduction is determined.