Developing participative simulation models – framing decomposition principles for joint understanding

A challenge in simulation modelling is to produce models that are transparent, that is, facilitate stakeholders in validating and understanding key decision variables, their workings, and model output. In turn, stakeholder participation is helpful in exploiting their domain knowledge for solution creation, and their acceptance. Unfortunately, many simulation models tend to be less transparent, being influenced by the analyst's mental reference models and simulation software libraries. In this article, we consider this issue in somewhat more depth, by reviewing a modelling framework for manufacturing simulation. The framework is assumed to guide model development by offering a high-level description of essential manufacturing elements and their dynamics. We show how it has been developed as a net result of (1) a domain analysis, for identifying basic decomposition principles, and (2) an engineering step, in which these principles are framed using an object-oriented notation. Highlighting framework construction is assumed to contribute to the setup of frameworks for alternative domains and to enable improvements of the current framework. By a case example, we illustrate how a modelling framework may facilitate more disciplined modelling.