As part of the BAM project I am currently working on developing an agent-based simulation model of a distributed AM system to explore the potential utility and impact of heterogeneous geographically dispersed manufacturing systems such as BAM in meeting Big Demand scenarios.
As a means of grounding the simulation in reality, I will be using historical data on the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK to infer PPE demand, and model the application of BAM in the form of an AM network made up of diverse producers that serve UK consumers such that the following research question could be answered:
What impact could the application of heterogeneous geographical distributed manufacturing systems such as BAM had during the pandemic in meeting PPE demands in the UK?
Specific objectives relevant to answering this RQ include:
- To develop demand profiles based on historic data of PPE demand in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- To model and analyse the application of BAM system (Distributed AM system) and quantify its ability to meet PPE demand and compare it to traditional supply chains.
- To model and investigate the outcome of how different production logics, queue architectures, performance metrics and communication protocols have on meeting PPE demand profiles.
- To develop models of different types of installed bases (AM producers) with varying operational characteristics, number of machines, locations to evaluate how heterogeneous AM producer capability differences impact performance of BAM system.