Discrete Event Modelling

Discrete event simulation for engineering systems

Are you dealing with complexity? Let’s explore the possibilities. We simulate what could be.

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Key contact

Lee Hedd

Business Development Manager

Ottawa, Canada

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Clarity from complexity

We use Discrete Event Simulation (DES) to inform decision making and investigate system dynamics in unique industries. We provide essential advice in support of defensible decisions.

 

DES considers a system as a discrete collection of events, with each event having some defined effect on the rest of the system, which includes:

  • The individual processes that comprise a system can each be defined in terms of their system impact, resource requirements, and trigger; These may be scheduled, random, or in response to another system event
  • Once these constituent parts have been defined, they can be combined within a model to recreate a system from the ground up

We use industry-leading software, FlexSim to transform data into accurate predictions. You will be able to access your model at any time during development, as well as download results.

Advantages of DES over continuous simulation models:

  • Speed
    Unlike continuous simulation models, in which each time slice is considered equally, DES can accelerate results considerably by only considering events that alter the state of the system
  • Configurability
    Since the system is defined from the bottom up, changes to low-level processes can be trialled rapidly and without having to reconfigure high-level logic

Bespoke solutions

We know you do not want a black-box model where you are not confident that your data is being correctly interpreted or that the results are reliable or visualised effectively.

Suppose you want to make informed decisions based on a robust model to see how individual business rules and activities impact the bigger picture in a visual, real-time way. In that case, our DES modelling is the right approach.

A typical use case for DES modelling is during pre-feasibility studies. You might want to gain insight into how a process will work based on your current assumptions.

Still, you also want to stress-test those assumptions and find alternative process arrangements, which might be more optimized for cost, resourcing, or other inputs.

Structured approach

We provide accuracy and peace of mind by using our unique modelling capability:

Options analysis:

Trial various infrastructure/personnel/resource changes without costly physical trials.

Throughput analysis:

Generate utilisation metrics to identify the bottlenecks within the system.

Optimisation:

Optimise system performance against your selected KPI’s.

Planning: 

Use the model of the proposed system to develop an understanding of resource requirements and timeline.

Stakeholder engagement:

Visualisation of an operation and its components helps communicate problems and drive engagement.

Cost analysis:

Costing analysis can be easily layered over any general options analysis and can be used as a KPI for later optimisation.

We can evaluate this whole process to help you make better decisions. Furthermore, our modelling capability can provide the “science” based decision making and the visualisation of this decision, with 2D/3D animations and interactive charts and figures.

Our approach is suitable for any business or organisation with a process or operation that needs more robust analysis. Whether this is during the conceptual or planning phase, it is an existing process that has broken down over time and needs to be refined or modernised. Or whether it is an outgoing process that needs to be modelled alongside the new and updated process, our approach can help answer the critical questions.