This paper deals with a design and a shape optimization of a tool that combines punching of a tarpaulin with the tarpaulin grommet pressing in one operation. The tarpaulin grommet 0.5 mm thick with a diameter of 10 mm is made of DX51D+Z275MAC steel. The designed tool and its main shape dimensions are verified by using a numerical simulation in an ANSYS Workbench software and subsequently also by a practical experiment, i.e. verification and debugging functionality in cooperation with H + D kovo company.

Current trends in manufacturing, which are based on customisation and gradually customised production, are becoming the main initiator for the development of new manufacturing approaches. New manufacturing approaches are counted as the application of new behavioural management patterns that calculate the retained competencies of decision-making by the individual members of the system agent; the production becomes decentralised. The interaction of the members of such a system creates emergent behaviour, where the result cannot be accurately determined by ordinary methods and simulation must be applied. Modelling and simulation will, therefore, be an integral part of the planning and control of the processes of factories of the future. The purpose of the article is to describe the use of modelling and simulation processes in factories of the future. The first part of the article describes new manufacturing concepts that will be used in factories of the future, with a description of modelling and simulation routing in the frame of Industry 4.0. The next section describes how simulation is used for the control of manufacturing processes in factories of the future. The included subsection describes the implementation of this suggested pattern in the laboratory of ZIMS (Zilina Intelligent Manufacturing System), with an example of a metamodeling application and the results obtained.

The main topic of the submitted paper is intelligent logistics and its integration into production systems. In the beginning, the problem that lies in the inadequate knowledge of the internal state has been defined. The new society-wide trends that will originate in a few years are also outlined. Those trends will affect factories and their logistics systems on a large scale. Therefore, it is necessary to have a strategy that takes these new trends into consideration. In this manuscript, is described a strategy for intelligent production systems, as well as technologies for different types of production-logistic strategies. Many of these technologies can be applied together with the Digital Twin. The Digital Twin is a new concept in the field of designing production and logistics systems in the factory. Finally, we provide a description of the implementation of the Digital Twin into the production and logistics system.

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Nowadays, many factories face changes on the global market and manufacturing is unpredictable. This fact creates a demand for developing new concepts of the factory which can represent a solution to these changes. This study presents a way for designing these new factory concepts, particularly a concept of the reconfigurable manufacturing lines. The methodology in this study uses characteristics of reconfigurable manufacturing systems for developing an algorithm for designing the basic factory layout. The methodology also combines classical math operations for designing the production layout with such approaches as simulation, cluster analysis, and LCS algorithm. This combination method with LCS algorithm and an entirely different approach to the design of the manufacturing line, has not yet been used. The accuracy of this methodology is then verified through the results of the complete algorithm containing these features. The main purpose of this study was to find new approaches to designing the reconfigurable factory layout. This article is presenting new ways that differ from the classical design method. The article suggests the new way is possible and the new systems also need new ways for designing and planning.

The article deals with the use of dynamic simulation tools for planning and optimising changes in the supply process carried out by an automated guided vehicle (AGV). The integration of new products and the overall increase of the production capacity of the assembly line in the automotive company are foreseen to overexpose some transport node. For problem-solving in practice was applied statisticalexperimental research method. The article in its core deals with the designing and creating of a simulation model of AGV-transport processes using dynamic simulation, which is designed to check the patency of routes, the feasibility of processes and detect bottlenecks. Three proposals to reduce logistics downtime were verified. Based on the results of the simulation, one was selected to be applied. After applying the solution, the production line tact increased by 35 %. Based on the results of the experiments conducted on the current situation simulation model, it is important to propose improvements to the AGV's management and transportation systems. The output is a design with virtual verification of a new supply process without bottlenecks.

Featured Application: Reconfigurable logistic system for new generation of Factory of the Future manufacturing systems and modular systems.Abstract: Route planning in a multi-agent system (MAS) is still a complex task, especially if there is need for a continuous, decentralized planner of the routes for physical agents in a dynamic environment. It is a planner of this kind that is required in the application the article considers: the transportation of parts at a modular manufacturing line. Such a planner has to meet several difficult requirements, regarding the physical, time-constrained dynamic environment, live-locks and deadlocks, delayed agents, and last needs to minimize the travel time and the total distance traveled. The article proposes an approach using a delegate multi-agent system (D-MAS) in order to meet these requirements. The approach was verified using virtual reality so as to provide a better understanding of the planner's issues. Several coordination rules were proposed and implemented. As a further verification, the proof-of-concept solution was compared to a non-reservation planner. It was shown, that as the number of agents increases, the approach, including the reservations, outperformed its competitor. Various recommendations for the implementation of the planner were formulated. It was concluded that the performance of the planner is sufficient for its future use. The main objective of article was proof-of-concept and determining the functionality of a prototype based on MAS that was in compliance with a modular manufacturing line developed by us. Appl. Sci. 2019, 9, 4515 2 of 20 these requirements and they offer additional features. These include autonomy, decentralization, scalability, and flexibility [4]. Inclusion of these features can be found in [3,5]. Yet, MASs have not been widely adopted in the industrial domain. Several reasons for this were identified by Karnouskos and Leitao [6], particularly, the demand of the industry for mature technologies, initial investments, missing compliance with existing standards, the lack of development methodologies, insufficient interoperability, and integration with physical systems. There are also several areas in MASs-such as continuous, decentralized route planning for physical agents in a dynamic environment-that can still be challenging [7]. Several works were done in this field [8,9]. This article uses delegates in the context of D-MASs (delegate multi-agent systems). Delegate or delegate agents are simple, reactive agents that are created, sent out, and collected by task and resource agents. Next, the features of delegate agents are that agents are virtual entities, not directly connected with anything physical, and that they communicate with other agents through the environment [8]. Primary agents or delegates use behavioral modules called D-MASs that reduce the agents' internal structural complexities; a definition can be found in [9].The idea of our project was to create an intra-logistic system that can transport parts (i.e., manufa...

The use of modern information and communication technologies plays a key role in the current global competitive environment of long-term manufacturing company sustainability. Based on the requirements of Slovak industrial companies (both domestic and foreign companies), there is a need to implement these technologies into the university teaching process. Therefore, this article describes virtual and augmented reality applications into the teaching process of Digital Factory module at the Industrial Engineering Department of the University of Zilina. The main aim of this study was to test and document how helpful immersive technologies could be in a teaching process. There were a group of students who took part in this study whose job was to assemble a specific assembly construction, first without the help of virtual technologies and second with the help of augmented and virtual reality. The results were collected through operation images and chronometry, these were then analyzed the conclusions stated in the article were obtained. In the conclusion, the final part of the article describes a general evaluation of virtual training use in the industrial practice of long-term industrial company sustainability.