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Simulation Engineering

Dagmawi Dessalegn

STEM 110T, CRN:

Old Dominion University

Date: 11/02/2018
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Simulation Engineering

Introduction to Simulation Engineering

A system simulation means simply mimicking of the operation of a real-world system or process
for purposes of its evaluating. A simulation is the execution of a model, represented by a
computer program that gives information about the system being investigated. The simulation
approach of analyzing a model is opposed to the analytical approach, where the method of
analyzing the system is purely theoretical. As this approach is more reliable, the simulation
approach gives more flexibility and convenience. The activities of the model consist of events,
which are activated at certain points in time and in this way affect the overall state of the system.
The points in time that an event is activated are randomized, so no input from outside the system
is required. Events exist autonomously, and they are discrete so between the execution of two
events nothing happens. System simulation is using to simplify the real-world problems such as
the daily transactions of a banking systems, the operation of a stock market for a specific period,
or the process of assembling line in a production companies, or the assigning employees of a
hospital or a security company, in a computer. Rather than having extensive mathematical
models by experts which has a lot of computation, the currently available simulation applications
has made it possible to model and analyze the operation of a real system by non-experts, who are
decision makers but not developers.

Evolution of Technology in Simulation Engineering

Today Simulation is arguably one of the most multifaceted topics that can face an Industrial
Engineer in the workplace. It can also be one of the most important to a corporation, regardless
of the industry. Simulations are mainly affecting the quality, safety and productivity, whether the
issues occur during production, design, or in a outsourcing. There is fast development of
Industrial Process Simulation from the stage of infancy to the current stage where it is used as a
powerful tool for increasing the competitiveness and profits of the company. Simulation is
extensively being used as a tool to increase the production capacity. For example: simulation
software used by Cymer Inc. (leading producer of laser illumination sources), increased the
production capacity from 5 units/month at the beginning of 1999 to 45/month at the end of 1999,
an increase by around 400% [4]. Visualization and graphics have undoubtedly made a huge
impact on all simulation companies. Easy-to-use modeling has resulted in low-priced packages
that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. The Simulation technology has shot up in
value to other related industries. The Simulation industry is coming of age and is no longer just
the domain of academics.

Newspaper and online news articles are applauding the real-world uses of modeling and
simulation. In August 2008, local newspaper [3] published an article about the expansion of jobs
in the Modeling and Simulation sector: Modeling and Simulation has grown beyond the
traditional applications of military and defense scenarios. The region has been an active leader in
expanding Modeling and Simulation to areas such including medicine and transportation. And
also, the online article written in August 2010 [2], strongly emphasized the importance of
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modeling and simulation. Modeling and simulation have become an integral part of research and
development across many fields of study, having evolved from a tool to a discipline in less than
two decades. Modeling and Simulation Fundamentals offers a comprehensive and authoritative
treatment of the topic and includes definitions, paradigms, and applications to equip readers with
the skills needed to work successfully as developers and users of modeling and simulation.

Trends and Issues

Many business processes are so complex, interconnected and subject to variability. For those
reasons, it is hard to understand the components evolution and interactions within the business
processes without a dynamic model. Simulation and modeling approach are a good choice to
predict processes performance, to compare alternatives and to establish the effect of several
scenarios on performance. Moreover, if a process does not yet exist, or company is considering a
new implementation, a simulation model can give a clue how well the proposed process will
perform. In addition, process simulation and modeling are growing and exciting research field.

Different examples show the challenges faced by companies. The hurdle was to convert the
entire plant to a hybrid flow-shop where an individual unit would be sent to the next operation as
soon as it was completed at the current operation. One serious reservation for this change was the
impact on finished goods inventory. Experiments were carried out using the simulation program
written in computers. The entire program took 30 days to simulate and the results were positive
with the eventual conversion of the entire plant to a flow-shop environment as compared to the
original batch environment [5].

Models were increasingly used to design new plants and to plan the flow of work in these new
facilities. The influence of graphics became more marked and a number of vendors used the
conference exhibit space to demonstrate the advantages of their system by actually bringing a
computer to the conference site. Technology had moved so far that simulation, for those who
were skilled in the art, became quicker, cheaper, and much more responsive to the designs of the
model constructor [7].

Application

Over the last thirty years, computer simulation has enjoyed a great deal of popularity in the
manufacturing, production, logistics, service, and financial industries, just to name a few fields
of application. In this sense, simulation is a powerful tool if understood and used properly [6].
Simulations are often used to analyze systems that are too complicated to analyze with analytic
methods such as calculus, standard probability and statistics, or queuing theory. An especially
interesting feature of simulation is its ability to allow the experimenter to analyze and compare
certain scenarios quickly and efficiently. The community of Computer system users, developers,
administrators, and designers want to achieve best performance with lowest cost. Modeling and
simulation of system design tradeoff is good preparation for design and engineering decisions in
real world jobs. In addition to its use as a tool to better understand and optimize performance
and/or reliability of systems, simulation is also extensively used to verify the correctness of
designs. Most if not all digital integrated circuits manufactured today are first extensively
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simulated before they are manufactured to identify and correct design errors. Simulation early in
the design cycle is important because the cost to repair mistakes increases dramatically the later
in the product life cycle that the error is detected. As Nahom [1] explained me, another important
application of simulation is in developing augmented reality (AR) e.g. game of Pokémon go and
virtual environments (VR), e.g., for training. Analogous to the holodeck in the popular science-
fiction television program Star Trek, simulations generate dynamic environments with which
users can interact "as if they were really there." Such simulations are used extensively today to
train military personnel for battlefield situations, at a fraction of the cost of running exercises
involving real tanks, aircraft, etc.
Conclusion

In the field of simulation, modeling, and visualization, the idea of computational similarity
between the prototype and real system helps the managers and decision makers. Modeling and
simulating experiments facilitate and replaces the wait and see problems of the system in
discovering new insight and explanations of future behavior of the real system. By integrating
with other technologies like image processing, artificial intelligence and other modeling
techniques, simulation is becoming best way of presenting the results for decision support for the
managers. As Nahom (1) said that “by combining the new emerging technology of complexity of
computer science with new simulation technology, different simulation group builds a software
that allows decision making managers to answer the what if questions in artificial worlds. For
example, how the roles of consumers and employees can be simulated to achieve peak
performance in consumer retail environments of the stock markets. So, simulation and modeling
in organizations is the collective ability to understand the implications of change over time. This
skill lies at the heart of successful strategic decision process. The availability of effective visual
modeling and simulation enables the analyst and the decision-maker to boost their dynamic
decision by rehearsing strategy to avoid hidden pitfalls.
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References

1. Haben Yhdego, 2nd year PHD student in Modeling, Simulation and Visualization
Engineering (MSVE) and his research area is mainly on simulation and visualization.

2. Research and Markets: Modeling and Simulation Fundamentals: Theoretical

Underpinnings and Practical Domains (August 2010). Retrieved from
http://www.businesswire.com/.
3. In August 2008, local newspaper The Virginian-Pilot published an article about the
expansion of jobs in the Modeling and Simulation sector.
4. "Simulation: 20th Century Issue," Society of Computer Simulation.
5. Andel, T., "Get It Right Before It's Real," Material Handling Engineering, July 1999, 55-
61.
6. Hurrion, R. D., Simulation Applications in Manufacturing, IFS Publications Ltd., UK,
1996.

7. Roberts, N., Deal, R., Shaffer, W., and M. Garet, Introduction to Computer Simulation:
Systems Dynamics Modeling Approach, Productivity Press Inc., 1999.