Developing simulation as a desktop resource

Abstract

While discrete event simulation technology holds tremendous promise and has a strong and established background, manufacturing industry has been less than successful in the implementation of simulation as a decision support tool. This paper reports on research into developing simulation into a sustainable desktop resource to be used continuously by various manufacturing personnel as a decision support tool. A case study approach was used to carry out the research. The manufacturing system used was a medium-sized facility that could be categorized as a batch flow-shop that produces a large range of products. The simulation software was developed using the object-oriented simulation package eM-Plant®. In designing the simulation model, emphasis was placed on integrating with the manufacturing company's information systems and reducing the resources required to maintain the software. The simulation software was successfully used for both strategic and short-term planning. However, as a sustainable resource within the company, the simulation model developed was only partially successful. The main difficulties identified were in model maintenance and data collection. The main conclusions of the paper are that: (1) simulation places specific requirements on information systems which need to be taken into consideration if simulation is to be successfully implemented as a desktop resource; (2) improvements in simulation software are required to reduce model maintenance resource requirements; and (3) research on socio-technical issues into simulation use within manufacturing is required.