Abstract
This article discusses how simulation can be successfully implemented to improve the productivity of newspaper preprint insertion processes. Specifically, the author demonstrates that production time loss induced by excessive queue build-up in a particular insertion process could be drastically reduced if a close-coupled machine layout was adopted in place of a remote-coupled configuration. In the remote-coupled layout, a packaging line is connected to a palletizer via a tray system under the supervision of a control room. In the close-coupled configuration, packaging line and palletizer are directly connected by a simple belt conveyor. The simulation model presented in this application suggests that the close-coupled layout could reduce production time loss induced by excessive queue build up by 95%, depending on the operating conditions.