Using SIMAN in simulating manufacturing systems

Simulation is a mixture of the art of modelling complex systems, the science of mathematics and the methodology of a particular language. This paper looks at three separate simulations produced in the SIMAN framework and describes the benefits achieved in each of them. At the same time the disadvantages normally associated with the use of a simulation approach are discussed. The SIMAN framework normally requires two separate programs to be produced. One contains the model of the physical elements of the system, the logic flow of the entities and the interrelationships developed. This is termed the model file. The other base program contains the variables under which the simulation has to be run and the gathering of statistics. This is termed the experimental file. These have to be compiled after creation and the compiled programs have to be linked together to form a further program which is the one actually used by SIMAN when in operation. This means that in the pure SIMAN environment, any changes in the initial variable values means that the experimental file has to be edited, then re-compiled and finally re-linked to the model file to create a new input program.