Selecting simulation software
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Selecting simulation software An approach to the problem of selecting software for a given modelling situation
Karen Holder
Simulation - What is it all about?
Software selection for simulation applications is often time-consuming and costly, particularly if you get it wrong. Model developers often spend too little time evaluating current software. lt follows that they run the
Simulation is the modelling technique that describes the operations (or interactions between the components) in a system by using mathematical or logical relationships to imitate the real-world system under study. lt is a wellestablished technique in the OR 'toolbag".
risk of their models being inappropriate and consequently not fully implemented. Others may be overly concerned with software selection. The task should be methodical and only take a small proportion of total project time. This article proposes a structured approach to aid simulation software evaluation and
With the advent of smaller, cheaper and more powerful
computers, in addition to improvements in graphics
selection, based upon personal experience of
technology, the OR analyst has seen an increase in the use of micro-computing and graphics in recent years to support their traditional mathematical models. Thus, discrete-event simulation has utilized these technological
developing an architectural design model.
Introduction I was asked recently to share my experience in the
improvements and has become visually interactive, incorporating an animated graphical representation of
selection of simulation software at an OR Society National
the system under investigation. The essence of a visual
lt became
interactive simulation model is its ability to display a
obvious that many of us in the OR field experience similar problems in selection and a system is required whereby
dynamically changing schematic diagram on a computer
an OR professional can obtain assistance in software
picture of the system being studied.
Event on the topic of software selection.
screen which the model user perceives as a moving
evaluation.
This has resulted in improved communications The aim of this article is to present the personal
because of the lowering of language barriers. This in turn
methodology used rather than a detailed evaluation of every simulation product available on the market. The difficulty with detailed product evaluations ¡s that they
has helped managers to gain confidence in modelling techniques, giving them a deeper understanding of their problems.
soon become out of date, whereas a methodology for the selection of simulation software would possibly be more useful to the reader.
A growing interest in simulation has led to an increase
in the simulation software on the market. This has resulted in the OR analyst trying to select suitable simulation software for their organization (or particular
The simulation model
application) from a large number of products with varying degrees of sophistication. The complexity of this task is
The software selection metho
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