Gaining acceptance of simulation: a social challenge
Abstract
The issue of how to deal with human behaviour in discrete-event simulation models has become more prominent due to the increased use of the technique in business process initiatives, particularly those in the service industries. Approaches to modelling human behaviour in discrete event simulations has been categorised by level of abstraction. Three methods described (termed simplify, facilitate and integrate) require no actual modelling of human behaviour in the simulation itself and three methods (termed resource/entity, generic, individual) require an increasing level of modelling detail. It has been found that there are significant challenges in modelling people at an individual level and alternatives such as using simulation with other OR techniques and simulating at a generic person level may represent a more appropriate approach.
References
[1]
Baines T.; Mason, S.; Siebers, P., Ladbrook, J., 2004, "Humans: the missing link in manufacturing simulation?", Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory, 12, 515--526.
[2]
Baines, T.; Asch, R.; Hadfield, L.; Mason, J. P.; Fletcher, S.; Kay, J. M., 2005, "Towards a theoretical framework for human performance modelling within manufacturing systems design", Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory, 13, 486--504.
[3]
Benedettini, O.; Baines, T.; Ladbrook, J. 2006. "Human Performance Modelling within Manufacturing Systems Design: From Theory to Practice", In Proceedings of the 2006 OR Society Simulation Workshop.
[4]
Bernhard, W.; Schilling, A. 1997. "Simulation of Group Work Processes in Manufacturing", In Proceedings of the 1997 Winter Simulation Conference, 888--891.
[5]
Brailsford, S.; Schmidt, B., 2003, "Towards incorporating human behaviour in models of health care systems: An approach using discrete-event simulation", European Journal of Operational Research, 150, 19--31.
[6]
Checkland, P. B. 1981. Systems Thinking, Systems Practice, John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, UK.
[7]
Dahn, D.; Laughery, K. R. 1997. "The Integrated Performance Modeling Environment -- Simulating Human-System Performance", In Proceedings of the 1997 Winter Simulation Conference, 1141--1145.
[8]
Dubiel, B. & Tsimhoni, O., 2005. "Integrating Agent Based Modeling into a Discrete Event Simulation", In Proceedings of the 2005 Winter Simulation Conference, SCS, 1029--1037.
[9]
Elliman, T.; Eatock, J.; Spencer, N., 2005, "Modelling knowledge worker behaviour in business process studies", The Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 18(1), 79--94.
[10]
Fowler, J. W. & Rose, O., 2004, "Grand Challenges in Modeling and Simulation of Complex Manufacturing Systems", SIMULATION, 80, no. 9, 469--476.
[11]
Freudenberg, R.; Herper, H. 1998. "Simulation of Workers in Manufacturing Systems", In Proceedings of the 1998 Winter Simulation Conference, SCS, 951--956.
[12]
Greasley, A., 2005, "Using system dynamics in a discrete-event simulation study of a manufacturing plant", International Journal of Operations and Production Management, 25(5/6), 534--548
[13]
Greasley, A. 2006. Operations Management, John Wiley and Sons Ltd., Chichester, UK.
[14]
Greasley, A. and Barlow, S., 1998, "Using simulation modelling for BPR: resource allocation in a police custody process", International Journal of Operations and Production Management, 18, 978--988.
[15]
Jackson, M. C. 2003. Systems Thinking: Creative Holism for Managers, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester, UK.
[16]
Juran, D. C. and Schruben, L. W., 2004, "Using worker personality and demographic information to improve system performance prediction", Journal of Operations Management, 22, 355--367.
[17]
Kim, D. H. 1992. "Systems Archetypes: Diagnosing Systemic Issues and Designing High-Leverage Interventions", Toolbox Reprint Series: Systems Archetypes, Pegasus Communications, 3--26.
[18]
Laughery, R. 1999. "Using Discrete-Event Simulation to Model Human Performance in Complex Systems", Proceedings of the 1999 Winter Simulation Conference, 815--820.
[19]
Macal, C. M. & North, M. J., 2006. "Tutorial on Agent-Based Modeling and Simulation Part 2: How to Model with Agents", In Proceedings of the 2006 Winter Simulation Conference, SCS, 73--83.
[20]
Pegden, C. D.; Shannon, R. E.; Sadowski, R. P. 1995. Introduction to Simulation using SIMAN, Second Edition, McGraw-Hill.
[21]
Robinson, S., 2001, "Soft with a hard centre: discrete-event simulation in facilitation", Journal of the Operational Research Society, 52, 905--915.
[22]
Schmidt, B. 2005. "Human Factors in Complex Systems: The Modeling of Human Behaviour", In Proceedings 19th European Conference of Modelling and Simulation, ECMS.
[23]
Silverman, B. G.; Cornwell, J.; O'Brien, K. 2003. "Human Performance Simulation" in Ness, J. W., Rizer, D. R., & Tepe, V. (Eds) Metrics and methods in human performance research toward individual and small unit simulation, Human Systems Information Analysis Centre: Washington DC.
[24]
Silverman, B. G., 1991, "Expert critics: Operationalising the judgement/decision making literature as a theory of "bugs" and repair strategies", Knowledge Acquisition, 3, 175--214.
- Gaining acceptance of simulation: a social challenge
Recommendations
Distributed Simulation of ECATNets: A Conservative Approach
PDP '96: Proceedings of the 4th Euromicro Workshop on Parallel and Distributed Processing (PDP '96)Abstract: ECATNets (Extended Concurrent Algebraic Term Nets) are a kind of high-level algebraic net used for specifying various aspects of distributed and parallel systems. We address the problem of developing parallel simulation techniques to analyze ...
Efficient Discrete-Event Simulation of Colored Petri Nets
Special issue: best papers of the sixth international workshop on Petri nets and performance models (PNPM'95)Colored Petri nets are a powerful formalism for the description of complex, asynchronous distributed systems. They can express in a very concise way the behavior of very large systems, especially in case these systems are composed of many replications ...
Parallel and distributed simulation of free choice Petri Nets
In this paper, we present two new methods to simulate Petri Nets: a data parallel simulation and a distributed simulation. Both simulations use an equational representation of the net in the so called (min, +) algebra. The data parallel simulation is ...
Comments
Information & Contributors
Information
Published In
Sponsors
- SIGSIM: ACM Special Interest Group on Simulation and Modeling
- SCS: Society for Modeling and Simulation International
Publisher
Society for Computer Simulation International
San Diego, CA, United States
Publication History
Published: 25 March 2007
Check for updates
Author Tags
Qualifiers
- Research-article
Contributors
Other Metrics
Bibliometrics & Citations
Bibliometrics
Article Metrics
- 0Total Citations
- 84Total Downloads
- Downloads (Last 12 months)1
- Downloads (Last 6 weeks)0
Reflects downloads up to 12 Jan 2025
Other Metrics
Citations
View Options
Login options
Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution to get full access on this article.
Sign in