Simulation modelling: concepts, tools and practical business applications

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
OVERVIEW OF THE STEPS IN A SIMULATION MODELLING STUDY
CONCEPTUAL MODELLING (ABSTRACTION)
CONCEPTUAL MODELLING (EXPLANATORY MODEL)
CONCEPTUAL MODELLING (DESCRIPTIVE MODEL)
DERIVING THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL DISTRIBUTIONS USING ARENA
DERIVING THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL DISTRIBUTIONS FOR SIMIO
DERIVING THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL DISTRIBUTIONS USING SIMUL8
DATA COLLECTION
BUILDING THE SIMULATION MODEL
BUILDING THE SIMULATION IN ARENA
BUILDING THE SIMULATION IN SIMIO
BUILDING THE SIMULATION IN SIMUL8
VERIFICATION AND VALIDATION
VERIFICATION AND VALIDATION WITH ARENA
VERIFICATION AND VALIDATION WITH SIMIO
VERIFICATION AND VALIDATION WITH SIMUL8
EXPERIMENTATION: SIMULATION OUTPUT ANALYSIS
ARENA OUTPUT ANALYSIS
SIMIO OUTPUT ANALYSIS
SIMUL8 OUTPUT ANALYSIS
EXPERIMENTATION: SIMULATION SCENARIO ANALYSIS
ARENA SCENARIO ANALYSIS
SIMIO SCENARIO ANALYSIS
SIMUL8 SCENARIO ANALYSIS
IMPLEMENTING AND INTRODUCING SIMULATION
HYBRID SIMULATION (COMBINING DES, ABS and SD)
HYBRID MODELLING (COMBINING MODEL-DRIVEN AND DATA-DRIVEN ANALYSIS)
INDEX

While simulation has a vast area of application, this textbook focuses on the use of simulation to analyse business processes. It provides an up-to-date coverage of all stages of the discrete-event simulation (DES) process, covering important areas such as conceptual modelling, modelling input data, verification and validation and simulation output analysis.

The book is comprehensive yet uncomplicated, covering the theoretical aspects of the subject and the practical elements of a typical simulation project, demonstrated by cases, examples and exercises. It also shows how simulation relates to new developments in machine learning, big data analytics and conceptual modelling techniques. Guidance is provided on how to build DES models using the Arena, Simio and Simul8 simulation software, and tutorials for using the software are incorporated throughout.

Simulation Modelling offers a uniquely practical and end-to-end overview of the subject, which makes it perfect required or recommended reading for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students studying business simulation and simulation modelling as part of operations research, business analytics, supply chain management and computer science courses.