Simulation Modelling Concepts, Tools and Practical Business Applications

While simulation has a vast area of application, this textbook focuses on the use of simulation to analyse business processes. It provides an up-to-date coverage of all stages of the discrete-event simulation (DES) process, covering important areas such as conceptual modelling, modelling input data, verification and validation and simulation output analysis. The book is comprehensive yet uncomplicated, covering the theoretical aspects of the subject and the practical elements of a typical simulation project, demonstrated by cases, examples and exercises. It also shows how simulation relates to new developments in machine learning, big data analytics and conceptual modelling techniques. Guidance is provided on how to build DES models using the Arena, Simio and Simul8 simulation software, and tutorials for using the software are incorporated throughout. Simulation Modelling offers a uniquely practical and end-to-end overview of the subject, which makes it perfect required or recommended reading for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students studying business simulation and simulation modelling as part of operations research, business analytics, supply chain management and computer science courses.

INTRODUCTION OVERVIEW OF THE STEPS IN A SIMULATION MODELLING STUDY CONCEPTUAL MODELLING (ABSTRACTION) CONCEPTUAL MODELLING (EXPLANATORY MODEL) CONCEPTUAL MODELLING (DESCRIPTIVE MODEL) DERIVING THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL DISTRIBUTIONS USING ARENA DERIVING THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL DISTRIBUTIONS FOR SIMIO DERIVING THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL DISTRIBUTIONS USING SIMUL8 DATA COLLECTION BUILDING THE SIMULATION MODEL BUILDING THE SIMULATION IN ARENA BUILDING THE SIMULATION IN SIMIO BUILDING THE SIMULATION IN SIMUL8 VERIFICATION AND VALIDATION VERIFICATION AND VALIDATION WITH ARENA VERIFICATION AND VALIDATION WITH SIMIO VERIFICATION AND VALIDATION WITH SIMUL8 EXPERIMENTATION: SIMULATION OUTPUT ANALYSIS ARENA OUTPUT ANALYSIS SIMIO OUTPUT ANALYSIS SIMUL8 OUTPUT ANALYSIS EXPERIMENTATION: SIMULATION SCENARIO ANALYSIS ARENA SCENARIO ANALYSIS SIMIO SCENARIO ANALYSIS SIMUL8 SCENARIO ANALYSIS IMPLEMENTING AND INTRODUCING SIMULATION HYBRID SIMULATION (COMBINING DES, ABS and SD) HYBRID MODELLING (COMBINING MODEL-DRIVEN AND DATA-DRIVEN ANALYSIS) INDEX

Andrew Greasley is Lecturer in Supply Chain Analytics and Modelling in the School of Infrastructure and Sustainable Engineering at Aston University, Birmingham, UK.