A Forum on Crucial Issues in the Simulation of Manufacturing Systems

In this panel discussion five leading simulation practitioners discuss a number of critical issues facing a person who is trying to use simulation to design a new system or to improve the performance of an existing system. John Carson, Kenneth Musselman, and Onur Ulgen are consultants, while Jerry Fox/Stephen Halladin are major users of simulation at a company that very extensively employs this technology. The questions discussed in this article were chosen by the discussants and myself based on our collective years of simulation modeling experience as being both important and of general interest. One of the questions-- how to determine the level of model detail--is, perhaps, the single most difficult methodological issue confronting an analyst trying to model a large, complex system. If there is not enough detail in the model, then it will probably be invalid and produce erroneous results. On the other hand, an overly detailed model may result in missed deadlines and in excessive computer execution time or memory requirements. Two additional questions address the ingredients for overall project success and how to collect good information/data on the system of interest. Finally, the discussants give their views on where the field of simulation modeling is headed in the next three years.