Discrete event simulation software allows you to model and analyze a sequential process, such as a production line or queuing system. This technology enables you see the impact of changes on production before implementing them.
Changes to any factory are expensive. The cost isn’t just in provisioning a new manufacturing or process instrument, it’s also the losses of stopping production while the changes are deployed and tested. The risks are that the new process isn’t an improvement over the old process and that costs could escalate—including investment in equipment and a slowdown in production—which will affect profits.
Discrete event simulation software is an Industry 4.0 technology that helps break manufacturing processes into distinct events, modeling them in 2D or 3D, and testing proposed production changes in a virtual environment.
Discrete simulation software gives you a clearer picture of how changes will affect a live production environment before you go through the time and expense of implementing changes.
Imagine a production line in an automotive factory. In discrete event simulation software, every operation and of every task—of human operators, material flow, or handling—along the line is modeled with a departure event and an arrival event. Breaking each operation or task into an event helps to visualize the movements to optimize output.
You can then adjust each event in turn or concurrently to support your output goals, whether that’s speeding up production, analyzing for supply-chain or production bottlenecks, or adjusting production levels according to market demand in real time.
When your facility and processes are modeled entirely in 3D, it also has potential as a digital twin.
Real-time data from equipment and processes can be collected through Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) frameworks and fed back into the simulation model, where an accurate, up-to-the-minute representation of the production processes can be used for any optimization analysis.
Discrete event simulation software helps you analyze and optimize your production process to uncover bottlenecks without disrupting your current operations.
Redesign your production line, introduce a new operation or equipment, or change a process to understand the impact on the system, all in the software.
Identify bottlenecks, choke points, and failure vectors in the simulation and retune processes to minimize or eliminate problems.
Almost at your goals but need help to make it work? Discrete event simulation is a low-cost, risk-free method for iterating production changes.
Meet your business objectives by optimizing your factory process in a risk-free virtual environment before committing to change on the shop floor. Then, when conditions inevitably change, do it again to maintain your production goals.
Making a discrete event model is a lot like documenting your processes, helping you better understand your system and shining a light on fresh ideas.
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Discrete event simulation simulates the flow of materials, components, and finished products through a production facility to analyze bottlenecks and explore ways to optimize production in a risk-free virtual environment.
In a manufacturing environment, its prohibitively expensive to experiment on actual production processes. Discrete event simulation models offer a cost-effective way to test any aspect of your system in a dynamic environment that accounts for real-world randomness.
Whether you’re designing a new assembly process, planning for machine downtime, or improving product throughput, discrete event simulation can help you find the best range of solutions.
Let’s say you’re working on a new factory design. Your discrete event simulation model would start with the four walls of your building structure, and from there you would have entities to model the proposed machines, operators, and other resources that are involved in production. You would also include the processes that make up the flow of materials that move throughout the factory.
What would this simulation model do? The direct benefit would be quick answers to “what if” questions about your proposed factory design. Will our design perform as expected? How would we respond to issues? It would also provide consistent system documentation to help stakeholders understand the production operations.
Manufacturing factory floor processes are an everyday use of discrete event simulation because they contain many relatively simple events—or can be broken into relatively simple parts with little or no state change between events.
However, discrete event simulation applies to many other areas. Organizations with warehousing and logistics needs can use simulation to optimize their material flow processes. Another example is queueing processes when customers interface with your company on a technical support, sales call, or in-person.
Discrete event simulation is also popular in medicine. Healthcare systems often contain complex steps and interactions between different providers and organizations, all with multiple variables that are hard to predict. Patient waiting time is often a key metric for healthcare systems, and discrete event simulation can identify the impediments and delays that keep providers from providing safe and compassionate care.
