Globalization, growing environmental awareness as well as rising and volatile resource prices contribute to an increasingly uncertain business environment in manufacturing. It is impossible to consider all future developments of external influences when planning and setting up a new manufacturing system. Therefore, companies must react with constant change and readjustment. This paper presents an approach based on simulation and design of experiments for the identification of suitable improvement strategies that counteract negative effects of external change drivers in discrete manufacturing systems. It covers selection of an effective strategy under consideration of its impacts. Thereupon, the ideal intervention threshold for the implementation of the selected strategy is derived. The methodology is applied to an ideal typical production line.
