SIMUL8 Manual and Simulation Guide SIMUL8 User’s Manual SIMUL8 and all its documentation are Copyright © Visual Thinking International Limited. All Rights Reserved To install SIMUL8 on your computer please see the installation guide at the back of this document (page 227). To get started we recommend you read the section “Building your first SIMUL8 model” Visual Thinking’s mission is to enable Visual Interactive Modeling to be used by anyone who is making decisions, or thinking, about improvements in any system they manage. In pursuit of this we are creating and marketing very high quality software products which are easy to use, very carefully researched, and priced for widespread use. 2 SIMUL8 User’s Manual Contact Information: Worldwide Support: Email: [email protected] Web: http://www.VisualT.com/ Use the interactive web based support conference: http://www.VisualT.com/conf/ This gives you direct access to a library of previous questions and answers direct from the support team - and also direct from other users. The conference is completely open - you can discuss all aspect of simulation (and SIMUL8) with the support team and other users. USA and Canada: Visual Thinking International Limited 55A Port Street Mississauga, Ontario Canada L5H 4P3 Tel: +1 800 878 3373 Fax: +1 905 279 1662 Japan: Design Technologies Inc. Towa Nihonbashi-Horidome Building, 3-15 1 Chome Nihonbashi- Horidomecho, Chuo-KU, Tokyo, Japan. Tel: +81 3 3667 1110 Fax: +81 3 3668 3100 World Wide: Visual Thinking International Limited 141 St James Road, Glasgow, UK G4 0LT Tel: +44 141 552 6888 Fax: +44 141 552 3886 3 SIMUL8 User’s Manual INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................13 SIMULATION - INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................13 Definition...................................................................................................................14 SIMUL8 - INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................15 The Process ..............................................................................................................16 BUILDING YOUR FIRST SIMUL8 MODEL ...............................................19 OVERVIEW OF USING SIMUL8 FOR BUILDING LARGE MODELS .......25 Main Concepts...........................................................................................................25 Display ......................................................................................................................26 Tailored Interactive Aspects ......................................................................................27 Models with similar parts ...........................................................................................27 Models within models (Sub-Simulation Windows) ......................................................28 Model Structure .........................................................................................................28 External Data ............................................................................................................28 Zoom.........................................................................................................................29 Business Process Re-engineering..............................................................................29 Documenting Models.................................................................................................29 Visual Logic...............................................................................................................29 Information Store.......................................................................................................30 What Next .................................................................................................................30 SIMULATION: THE TECHNIQUE - A GUIDE ...........................................33 (a) Listen ...................................................................................................................33 (b) Level of Detail? ....................................................................................................34 (c) How Broad?..........................................................................................................34 (d) Build Rough & Ready Model, then Refine it..........................................................34 (e) Work Closely with your Client...............................................................................35 (f) Running your Model ..............................................................................................36 (g) Verification...........................................................................................................36 (h) Warm Up Time.....................................................................................................37 (i) Visual Exploration .................................................................................................40 (j) Accuracy of Results...............................................................................................41 (k) How much of this do you need?............................................................................49 Conclusion.................................................................................................................50 REFERENCE SECTION - THE SIMUL8 FACILITIES ...............................51 THE MAIN CONCEPTS........................................................................................................51 5 SIMUL8 User’s Manual Structure of your model.............................................................................................51 Important Terminology ..............................................................................................52 Simulation Window ...................................................................................................52 Simulation Objects....................................................................................................53 Work Items ...............................................................................................................54 Important Images on the Simulation Window ............................................................54 Work Centers............................................................................................................57 Storage Bins .............................................................................................................59 Conveyors.................................................................................................................61 Work Entry Points .....................................................................................................61 Work Exit Points .......................................................................................................62 Resources.................................................................................................................63 Resource Shift Patterns ............................................................................................63 Pooled Resources .....................................................................................................64 Multiple Resources at a Work Center ........................................................................64 Converting Resources into Different Types ...............................................................65 When are resources released?..................................................................................65 When are resources required? ..................................................................................66 Invisible objects ........................................................................................................66 Object List Dialog Box...............................................................................................66 Deleting Objects........................................................................................................67 Quick Replicate.........................................................................................................68 HIERARCHICAL MODELING.................................................................................................69 Sub-Simulation Windows ..........................................................................................69 Removing Sub-Simulation Windows .........................................................................70 Closing a sub-window................................................................................................70 IMPORTANT CONTROL FEATURES.......................................................................................72 Select, Move and Copy Objects on Screen ...............................................................72 Move.........................................................................................................................73 Copy .........................................................................................................................73 Aligning Objects on the display .................................................................................75 UNDO .......................................................................................................................75 Redo .........................................................................................................................76