ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how process performance can be optimized when a simulation model is available. The design determines how the process operates and what resources and technology are employed and thus, the determining logic behind the flow of work. Recall that the analyst is considering the adoption of a new technology that reduces the time to place an order. Because this change involves the reduction of the average processing time of a single activity, the change in the model is not difficult to implement. Operational decisions are not limited to changing the availability of resources in a process. Improving the performance of a business process by selecting the most qualified available personnel for each activity, without changing the structure of the business process or hiring new employees, is a form of operational optimization that has received less attention than others in the operations management literature.
