Manufacturing Simulation Software Selection Guidelines

As manufacturing becomes more complex, the use of manufacturing simulation software has become more and more common. The proper selection of manufacturing simulation software revolves around the purpose of the simulation.

Purposes

Because different purposes require different simulation criteria, selecting manufacturing simulation software should be carried out according to the purpose of the simulation. Common purposes include education, rapid industrial modeling and detailed industrial modeling.

Simulation Criteria

There are a number of simulation criteria that may be applicable to one or more of these simulation purposes. These include flexibility, efficiency, ease, speed of model development, coding aspects and software compatibility, among others.

Groupings

Because education and rapid industrial modeling both favor simulation criteria that allow for quick and easy model development, these two objectives often require very similar simulation criteria. Detailed industrial modeling, on the other hand, requires simulation criteria that allow for flexibility and software efficiency, and thus require its own distinct kinds of simulation software.

References

• BNet: Guidelines for selection of manufacturing simulation software