AN AUTOMATED APPROACH TO INPUT DATA MANAGEMENT IN DISCRETE EVENT SIMULATION PROJECTS: A PROOF-OF-CONCEPT DEMONSTRATOR

Paper in proceeding, 2007

Despite the fact that Discrete Event Simulation (DES) is claimed to be one of the most potent tools for analysis and optimization of production systems, industries worldwide have not been able to fully utilize its potential. One reason is argued to be that DES projects are not time efficient enough due to extensive time consumption during the input data phases. In some companies, input data is totally missing, but even in projects where data is available it usually takes a considerable amount of time to analyze and prepare it for use in a simulation model. This paper presents one approach to the problem by implementing a software that automates several steps in the input data process such as extracting data from a database, sorting out the information needed and fitting the data to statistical distributions. The approach and the software have been developed based on a case study at Volvo Trucks in Gothenburg, Sweden. The work presented in this paper is part of a more comprehensive project called FACTS. The project scope is to develop methods and IT-tools for conceptual plant development.