CAN SIMULATION BE EFFECTIVE?

Abstract

The problems of making simulations of complex manufacturing systems effective have changed appreciably over the last 20 years. First, simulation languages were required, then Control Processing Units (CPUs) to run software like GPSS. After that good user interaction became the prior need. Now that software and hardware requirements are largely satisfied, the pressing problem is how to put these tools onto the desks of design engineers, who cannot reasonably be expected to become simulation and programming experts. Generic models on main-frame systems appear to be the answer, supplemented by a comprehensive set of packages to provide coarser but more convenient simulation on PCs.