Evaluating and Selecting Simulation Software Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process

In order to be competitive and progress to a state of excellence in manufacture, companies are currently experiencing change. Decisions have to be made about the best way forward, and some insight into the possible outcomes is desirable. There is a small but growing awareness among British manufacturing companies that simulation could aid this insight, but potential users face the problem of evaluating and selecting from the many proprietary systems, the one which best matches their requirements at some preferred cost. Selection is made more difficult by continual updates and modifications to systems and by new software suppliers entering the market. Uses a research case study as the vehicle for proposing a framework for assessment and selection of simulation systems involving the use of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Illustrates how this technique was used to make a system selection which matched a company′s selection criteria.