SIMULATION-BASED DEBOTTLENECKING OF A CERAMIC TILE PRODUCTION LINE WITH INTEGRATED ENERGY CONSUMPTION AND CARBON EMISSION ANALYSIS

Abstract

Ceramic tile making is considered to be one of the most energy-intensive manufacturing processes due to the drying and firing operations carried out at relatively higher temperatures. Inefficiencies in the production process not only cause reduced production rates, but they also contribute to increased energy consumption and environmental damage. In this paper, the authors proposed a discrete-event simulation-based approach to debottleneck the production process in the ceramic tile industry while concurrently evaluating the energy consumption and environmental damage. Real-time data were used to simulate the production process in an industrial ceramic tile factory using the discrete-event simulation approach. The proposed simulation approach was successfully validated by finding that the deviation between the simulation and actual production rates was merely 0.53%. Two scenarios were proposed to improve the production process in the ceramic tile industry and reduce the bottlenecks in the production system. The analysis found that the kiln is the main bottleneck in the production system due to the longer processing time and the relatively higher defect rates compared to the other production stages. The optimization scenario proposed reduction in the thermal processing times of the double-layer dryer, the single-layer dryer, and the kiln, which improves the production process without causing new queues in the system. The sustainability analysis found that the proposed debottlenecking approach reduced the energy consumption from 80.88 to 74 kWh and the carbon footprint from 66.32 to 60.68 kg CO₂, which is equivalent to the reduction in the energy consumption and the carbon footprint by 6.88 and 5.64 kg CO₂ (8.5%), respectively. The proposed discrete-event simulation approach is successful in debottlenecking the production process and improving the sustainability performance without the need to invest capital in the ceramic tile industry.