Simulation: An application of factory design process methodology

To successfully compete in today's challenging, volatile markets, enterprises must be highly flexible and open to change. Management must be confident that changes they make to their enterprise's design will improve market position and have the potential to meet demanded performance levels. Mistakes are expensive and difficult to correct. The factory design process (FDP) research offers an information-centred modelling environment, which links object oriented databases with simulation to meet the challenges of enterprise redesign. Desired enterprises are modelled, and evaluated, using six FDP Views. Dynamic evaluation, using simulation, is an essential part of the FDP Performance View, enabling the operation of proposed designs to be assessed, before costly physical implementations are undertaken. Simulation plays a key role in testing ideas, comparing enterprise design solutions and evaluating design performance through a variety of ‘what if?’ operational scenarios. Therefore, simulation makes a valuable contribution in several new application areas within enterprise design.