Discrete Event Simulation of a Sawmill Yard Using Multi-Agent System

In direct reference to the saying “time is money”, nowadays scenario simulations play a key role in the tasks people perform. Optimizing the time length of tasks and synchronizing them properly is essential to increased profits in any line of business. In this thesis the Bergkvist-Insjön sawmill yard process will be computer simulated. As the number of trucks arriving at the sawmill is unknown, the unexpected arrival of trucks would produce a high pressure on internal resources and handling operations. The aim of this paper is to optimize the usage of the resources in the Bergkvist-Insjön sawmill, by running three different scenarios built based on the real system simulation. Scenario number three, in which a log stacker only has the tasks to unload the trucks and supply the measurement station, has been found most efficient. In the simulation of this scenario, the number of logs processed by the sawmill is the highest one. Also, the time spent by the log stackers between their tasks is the shortest one from all scenarios. The results of this thesis revealed that the most efficient improvement of the sawmill yard would be gained by a different tasks’ priority for the operating log stackers.