Validation of a productive digital transformation project through discrete event simulation

Abstract

There is evidence that business leaders are concerned about the ability of their organizations to adapt to the new digital economy. In addition, it is found that most digital transformation projects do not achieve their stated objectives, thus wasting large sums of resources. It could be mentioned then that among the main challenges for digital transformation in companies is the uncertainty regarding the results that could be obtained from the assimilation of digital technologies. In this sense, the present work describes the practical experience of a metallurgical company that plans to implement a series of sensors in a production line, which are expected to generate process data that as a whole will provide valuable information that allows those responsible to control process deviations in real time, report their performance and find optimization possibilities. In order to have tools that help reduce the uncertainty regarding the expected results and the effects that the implementation of digital transformation projects may generate on productive processes, it is proposed to use discrete event simulation to validate said project before its investment. The results obtained were satisfactory.