# Strategic Plant Redesign in the Glass Industry: A Case Study Applying SLP and Discrete Simulation
## 4 Conclusions  
The implementation of the systematic layout planning (SLP) methodology and the discrete simulation allowed us to evaluate a significant improvement in the operational efficiency of the glass plant studied. The final redesign proposal showed a reduction of 52% in the distances travelled by workers in the simulation model, optimising the flow of materials and balancing the workload among operators. This demonstrates the potential effectiveness of integrating planning and simulation methodologies to improve productivity in manufacturing environments.  
Through the analysis and reconfiguration of the plant layout, a more efficient distribution of work areas was achieved, minimising downtime and improving equipment layout, as follows:  
* The final design, with 90% efficiency in terms of relative adjacency, reduced congestion in the production area and improved the flow of personnel and semi-finished products, which has a positive impact on space management and operational fluidity.
* The integration of advanced tools such as Stat-Fit, RStudio, ProModel and FlexSim allowed for rigorous statistical analysis and scenario simulation, optimising and validating the redesign proposal with high accuracy.
* The evaluation of the models through hypothesis testing and efficiency analysis confirmed the effectiveness of these methodologies for strategic decision-making in industrial plant layout, driving digital transformation in glass manufacturing.  
Although the SLP methodology and FlexSim simulation are well-known tools, their integration into the redesign of a glass company's plant represents an innovation in optimising material flows and improving operational efficiency. This holistic approach not only validates the effectiveness of these methodologies in a real-world environment, but also provides a replicable model for other manufacturing industries.  
It is acknowledged that the study does not introduce new theoretical knowledge in the field of plant layout or discrete event simulation. The research focuses on the practical application of existing methodologies, which limits its theoretical contribution. The results obtained are highly conditioned by the specific data of the company studied, which may limit the generalisability of the findings to other industries or different contexts. Despite not introducing methodological or theoretical innovations, the contribution of the study lies in the effective application of known tools to improve operational efficiency in the glass industry. The integration of SLP and FlexSim provides a practical and replicable model that can be adapted and validated in other industrial contexts, offering a solid basis for future research and applications.  
Conceptualization, G.P.M.-O.; Formal analysis, G.P.M.-O.; Investigation, A.L.J.-A. and D.M.M.-G.; Writing--review & editing, A.T.-E.; Project administration, G.P.M.-O. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.  
This research did not receive external funding and the APC was financed by the Corporation Universitaria del Caribe--CECAR. Information on the funder and funding number should be provided.  
Not applicable.  
The original contributions presented in this study are included in the article. Further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.  
The authors declare no conflict of interest.