Simul8


SIMUL8 simulation software is a product of the SIMUL8 Corporation used for simulating systems that involve processing of discrete entities at discrete times. This program is a tool for planning, design, optimization and reengineering of real production, manufacturing, logistic or service provision systems. SIMUL8 allows its user to create a computer model, which takes into account real life constraints, capacities, failure rates, shift patterns, and other factors affecting the total performance and efficiency of production. Through this model it is possible to test real scenarios in a virtual environment, for example simulate planned function and load of the system, change parameters affecting system performance, carry out extreme-load tests, verify by experiments the proposed solutions and select the optimal solution. A common feature of problems solved in SIMUL8 is that they are concerned with cost, time and inventory.
SIMUL8 uses dynamic discrete simulation, which makes it possible to provide unambiguous and concrete results and proofs – information on how the designed or optimized production system will actually function. The outputs of SIMUL8 simulation are "hard data", values and statistics of performance parameters and metrics of the production system.

Model building

Construction of SIMUL8 models is usually not based on programming or statistical data, but rather on drawing organization schemes on the screen. However, SIMUL8 implements a two-way interface with Visual Basic, which leaves space for creation of advanced model features, which cannot be modeled using only the graphical interface. SIMUL8 also provides its own simulation language based on Visual Basic called Visual Logic, which allows the user to implement detailed logic of the simulation. The design of SIMUL8 also facilitates communication with other software packages such as Microsoft Access, Excel and Visio. The support of XML and OLE automation allows working with external sources of data and exporting internal data to other systems. SIMUL8 also supports communication with databases using SQL.

Basic components of SIMUL8 environment

A SIMUL8 simulation revolves around processing work items. They enter the system via work entry points, pass through work centers, may temporarily reside in storage areas and leave via work exit points. In addition to this mechanism, work centers may need specific resources to process work items. A simulation consists of a number of these objects and of the routes between them, modeled as a directed graph.


ComponentDescription
Work item
models physical or logical objects moving through the system. Entities enter the system, induce different sorts of activities, use different kinds of resources and at the end leave the system. A customer, product or document can be a SIMUL8 model entity.
Entrance objects that represent the entry of entities into the system objects that model activities which the entities go through. Resources are typically used during execution of an activity
Queue
objects that model cumulation of entities. The stack usually precedes activities for which the stacked entities wait because of lack of resources
Exit
a place through which the entities leave the modeled system
Resource
objects that are used for modeling capacity restraints of workers, material or means of production used in activities
Routeobjects that connect all the other simulation objects. They represent sequences of activities and thus the movement of entities in the system.

Typical inputs and outputs

These are the most common parameters of a SIMUL8 model, which are set by the user to influence the conditions of simulated environment:
The outputs of the simulation provide information about:
SIMUL8 can be used to model any process where there is a flow of work, however the main areas of use are in manufacturing, health care, contact centers and supply chain.
SIMUL8 can be used to simulate different kinds of: