Bachelor Degree Project A comparison of simulation tools for supply chain management Author: Shishengxiong Zhong and Jinzhe Zhao Supervisor: Sabri Pllana Semester: VT 2020 Subject: Computer Science Abstract This report provides a comparison of discrete-event simulation tools for supply chain models. We use different simulation tools (Arena and AnyLogic) to analyze and inspect the C14 supply chain management benchmark, as well as, a real-world busi- ness supply chain model that is provided by Vantai company in China. In this study, we consider different aspects of these simulation tools (such as, the capability of discrete-event simulation, visualization, simulation efficiency and accuracy, and de- bugging) to explore their advantages and disadvantages. We hope that our simulation results will have a positive impact on the supply chain management of the companies that provided us with data for this study; furthermore, the comparison results may be useful to developers and researchers in future simulation studies. Keywords: Supply Chain Management; Discrete-Event Simulation; Arena Sim- ulation Software; AnyLogic Simulation Software; Comparison of simulation tools. Preface We like to use this opportunity to thank our supervisor Sabri Pllana for the opportunity and the research topic along with the aid he provides for us to proceed and accomplish this research. We would also like to thank the China Vantai company for sharing their data and support us to build our supply chain model and the research. Both Sabri and Vantai company have been encouraging and helpful for us during past few months. We would not be able to finish our degree project without their help. Contents List of Figures List of Tables 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Background ................................. 2 1.1.1 The Anylogic simulation software ................. 2 1.1.2 The Arena simulation software ................... 2 1.1.3 Discrete-event simulation ..................... 3 1.1.4 C14 Supply Chain Management .................. 3 1.1.5 Vantai Supply Chain Model .................... 3 1.2 Related work ................................ 4 1.2.1 C14 Supply Chain Management Benchmark ............ 4 1.2.2 C14 Supply Chain Management - AnyLogic 4.0 ......... 4 1.2.3 An Object-oriented Approach to ARGESIM Benchmark C14 ’Sup- ply Chain’ using MATLAB .................... 5 1.2.4 Comparison of discrete event simulation tools in an academic en- vironment ............................. 5 1.3 Problem formulation ............................ 6 1.4 Motivation .................................. 6 1.5 Objectives .................................. 7 1.6 Scope/Limitation .............................. 7 1.7 Target group ................................. 7 1.8 Outline ................................... 8 2 Method 9 2.1 Controlled variables and experimental environment ............ 10 2.2 The first controlled experiment ....................... 10 2.2.1 Objective: C14 supply chain management ............. 11 2.2.2 Dependent variables: Expected modelling results ......... 16 2.3 The second controlled experiment ..................... 16 2.3.1 Objective: Vantai supply chain model ............... 16 2.3.2 Dependent variables: Expected modelling results ......... 23 2.4 Comparisons metrics ............................ 24 2.5 Reliability and Validity ........................... 26 2.6 Threat to validity .............................. 27 2.7 Ethical considerations ............................ 27 3 Implementation 28 3.1 Implementation of C14 supply chain management ............. 28 3.1.1 Simulation model built by Anylogic ................ 28 3.1.2 The simulation results outputted by Anylogic ........... 38 3.1.3 Simulation model built by Arena .................. 40 3.1.4 The simulation results outputted by Arena ............. 44 3.2 Implementation of Vantai supply chain model ............... 46 3.2.1 Simulation model built by Anylogic ................ 46 3.2.2 The simulation results outputted by Anylogic ........... 54 3.2.3 Simulation model built by Arena .................. 55 3.2.4 The simulation results outputted by Arena ............. 60 4 Comparison Results of Simulation Tools 61 4.1 Tool capabilities with respect to discrete-event simulation ......... 61 4.2 Visualization ................................ 65 4.3 Simulation efficiency ............................ 71 4.4 Simulation accuracy ............................. 76 4.5 Debugging .................................. 78 5 Analysis 79 6 Discussion 82 7 Conclusion 83 7.1 Future work ................................. 84 References 85 A Appendix A List of Figures 2.1 Controlled experiments overview ...................... 9 2.2 JRE version ................................. 10 2.3 Computer configuration ........................... 10 2.4 the relationship between factory, distributor and wholesaler in C14 .... 11 2.5 Vantai model relationthips ......................... 17 3.6 Product Agent ................................ 30 3.7 Factory Agent ................................ 30 3.8 The produce function of factory ...................... 31 3.9 Distributor Agent .............................. 32 3.10 The function buy of distributor ....................... 33 3.11 The function getStorage of distributor ................... 34 3.12 The function sell of distributor ....................... 34 3.13 The function addStorageFee of distributor ................. 35 3.14 Wholesaler Agent .............................. 35 3.15 The method that wholesalers order product ................. 36 3.16 Main Agent ................................. 37 3.17 the Main model ............................... 41 3.18 FactoryProduce sub-model ......................... 42 3.19 DistributorBuy sub-model ......................... 42 3.20 WholesalerBuy sub-model ......................... 43 3.21 ClearStock sub-model ............................ 43 3.22 TaskA .................................... 44 3.23 TaskB .................................... 44 3.24 TaskC .................................... 45 3.25 Factory Agent ................................ 46 3.26 The produce function of factory ...................... 47 3.27 Distributor Agent .............................. 48 3.28 The function buy of distributor ....................... 50 3.29 The function getStorage of distributor ................... 51 3.30 The function sell of distributor ....................... 51 3.31 The function addStorage of distributor ................... 52 3.32 The function record of distributor ..................... 52 3.33 Wholesaler Agent .............................. 52 3.34 The function buy of wholesaler ....................... 53 3.35 The Vantai simulation results outputted by Anylogic ............ 54 3.36 Main model ................................. 57 3.37 FactoryProduce sub-model ......................... 58 3.38 FactoryDiscount sub-model ......................... 58 3.39 DistributorBuy sub-model ......................... 59 3.40 WholesalerBuy sub-model ......................... 59 3.41 The Vantai simulation results outputted by Arena ............. 60 4.42 the event component of Anylogic ...................... 62 4.43 the Create module of Arena ......................... 62 4.44 simulate The orders from the distributors with Anylogic .......... 63 4.45 simulate The orders from distributors with Arena ............. 64 4.46 Anylogic UI overall ............................. 65 4.47 Arena UI overall .............................. 66 4.48 Factory attributes in Anylogic ....................... 67 4.49 the variables list of Arena ......................... 68 4.50 Anylogic Chart ............................... 69 4.51 Arena Chart ................................. 69 4.52 Automatically generated report by Arena .................. 70 4.53 The limitation of Arena free version(1) ................... 72 4.54 The limitation of Arena free version(2) ................... 72 4.55 AppTimer configuration for Anylogic ................... 73 4.56 AppTimer configuration for Arena ..................... 74 4.57 Anylogic operating screen ......................... 74 4.58 Arena operating screen ........................... 75 4.59 The order comparison of C14 between Anylogic and Arena ........ 76 4.60 The order comparison of Vantai between Anylogic and Arena ....... 76 4.61 The result of random integer result by Anylogic .............. 77 4.62 The result of random integer by Arena ................... 77 4.63 Error report of Anylogic .......................... 78 4.64 Error report of Arena ............................ 78 1.65 Anylogic random test code ......................... A 1.66 Arena random test code ........................... A List of Tables 1.1 Project objectives .............................. 7 2.2 Factories production ............................ 12 2.3 Supply lead time .............................. 12 2.4 Vantai products ............................... 17 2.5 Vantai factory agent level .......................... 18 2.6 Vantai distributor exclusive ......................... 18 2.7 Discount for distributors .......................... 18 2.8 The supply lead time between distributor and factory ........... 19 2.9 The supply lead time between distributor and wholesaler ......... 19 3.10 AnyLogic simulation agents for C14. .................... 29 3.11 AnyLogic simulation results for C14. ................... 39 3.12 Arena simulation variables for C14. .................... 40 3.13 Arena simulation results for C14. ...................... 45 3.14 Arena simulation variables for Vantai ................... 55 4.15 Anylogic opening time