Hi rkoganti,
Some or all of the simulation software programs you mentioned are for Discrete Event Simulation, which is a bit different from Monte Carlo Simulation.
In Discrete Event Simulation (D.E.S.), you model the process as individual steps linked together, set up a statistical distribution for the arrival rate (how often new material enters the process flow) and statistical distributions for each of the steps in the process. If you enter a capacity limit on a piece of equipment, then the simulation will show material stacking up as WIP before that equipment. You can also model the equipment occasionally going down, either intentionally (scheduled equipment maintenance) or unintentionally (equipment failure, time to repair)
Of the software packages you mentioned, I’ve heard favorable things about Simul8 in terms of both its capabilities and its cost. Here is a website with some information on some of these D.E.S. programs:
http://www.idsia.ch/~andrea/sim/simvis.html
in Monte Carlo Simulation, you set up an equation or series of equations intended to represent the process or situation you would like to model, and you set up statistical distributions for some or all of the inputs into the equation(s). Monte Carlo simulation is more general purpose that D.E.S., but isn’t as easily applied for situations like a process with one or more equipment constraints.
Happy New Year!
Best regards,
Eric Maass
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