The main aim of the article is to develop a simulation model of flexible manufacturing

system with applying the ontology on flexibility. Designing manufacturing systems matching

both production and market requirements becomes more and more challenging due to the

variability of demand for a large number of products made in many variants and short

lead times. Manufacturing flexibility is widely recognised as a proven solution to achieve

and maintain both the strategical and operational goals of the companies exposed to global

competition. Generic simulation model of flexible manufacturing system was developed using

FlexSimr 3D software, then the example data were used to demonstrate the developed model

applicability. “The Ontology on Flexibility” was applied for evaluation of achieved flexibility

of manufacturing system.

The paper presents the issue of container handling processes at a railroad intermodal terminal. The main purpose of this paper is the assessment of the handling equipment utilization and the associated energy consumption. The authors analyze how the road vehicle availability at the moment specified in the containers loading schedule influences the total handling equipment operation time as well as the necessary number of handling equipment. It is assumed that vehicles planned for loading of import containers may be late for loading, which causes some interruptions in the loading schedule. Such interruptions are identified with the necessity to handle the next container for which the road vehicle is already waiting, which influences the handling equipment utilization and, finally, energy consumption. The general mathematical model of the problem developed in the FlexSim simulation software was presented. Based on the simulation research, it pointed out that proper road vehicles loading sequencing can significantly reduce handling equipment operation time, and thus energy consumption, costs, and CO₂ emissions. The literature analysis presented in the paper indicates that most of the research in the field of intermodal transport is focused on operations optimization in container ports. There are differences between two types of intermodal terminals in operation procedures and rules. That is why the authors decided to undertake the problem of road vehicle sequencing including their random availability and its influence on handling device operation time, which has not been considered in the literature so far.

The purpose of the work presented here is a comparative analysis of two methods of solving the problem of optimizing the working time and path length of operators for manual harvesting of raspberries over an area of one hectare. An analytical solution is a method of solving mathematical problems based on finding an exact formula that describes a phenomenon or process. A simulation solution is the opposite of a numerical solution, which is based on calculating an approximation using statistical methods. An analytical and simulation approach will be presented to show how to calculate the number of workers needed, the minimum working time and the length of the path taken by raspberry fruit pickers. The results obtained for the two methods are compared.