ABSTRACT
At first, computers were seen as large, fast, calculating devices but a breakthrough occurred in the 1950s when it was realized that the arithmetic engine in the computer could be used to “mimic” the future by driving a simulation model. The use of computer simulation is now widespread in well-managed companies; major facilities or products constructed today are “run in the computer” to debug the design and to check out the host of decisions that must be made before construction can begin. Some examples:
Simulation was used to evaluate the design of the terminals of the Channel Tunnel linking Britain and France.
Simulation is routinely used to assist in the design of new airplanes, where a new plane makes thousands of simulated “flights” in the computer before a single piece is constructed.
Automobile manufacturers make extensive use of simulation studies to try to identify design changes which would improve the efficiency of their existing manufacturing facilities, and also use simulation to design new facilities.
Hospitals have used simulations to plan the layout and capacity of operating theaters, outpatient clinics, and guided vehicle systems.
Pharmaceutical companies develop simulation models of disease progression so that they can evaluate the benefits of new drugs.
Simulation models are used to assess emergency planning and response, such as response to a bioterror attack, and the list goes on and on.
Simulation is widely used as a tool to improve operations, but there are also many examples of simulations being used for tactical and strategic decisions. Simulation models can assist management at all decision-making levels: a firm that makes a strategic decision to be a low-cost producer may well use simulation models to study its entire operation, with a view to identifying cost savings or opportunities for efficiencies (see the reading on Vilpac Truck manufacturing at the end of this chapter).