Deeper Into Simulation – Part 2: Optimizing Resource Utilization
Blog: Method & Style (Bruce Silver)
Continuing my recent post re simulation analysis and BPMN… (Since then I’ve finished my BPMN training materials, including simulation analysis, and it’s now in beta… almost ready to go! Also since that post, the histogram of costs and times is now out of the box. I told ITP Commerce how I did it and they put that in the standard simulation output. How’s that for customer service!)
Use case 2. Here the problem is usually framed in terms of “bottlenecks.” I’m not sure how typical that situation is in real life. Usually static analysis gives you a rough idea of the staffing requirement even without simulation. For example, if over the workday you create 100 instances an hour, and Task A takes 1 hour, you need “around” 100 people to perform Task A to keep up. But what if instead of creating 100 instances an hour, you are getting 800 instances overnight and your resource for Task A also is responsible for Task B? Then simulation gives answers you can’t get from static analysis.
But it turns out simulation gives surprising results even in the case where static analysis says you have enough to do the job.
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