Simulation

Simulation is the act of running your model through the Process Simulator's simulation engine. During simulation, your entities flow through your process according to their routings. Numerical values are also assigned to your statistical distributions. You may simulate your model at any time during its development to troubleshoot problems and verify that it is being developed properly.

Before you Simulate

Prior to Simulation you should define Simulation Properties, and have placed at least one entity, arrival connection, and activity on the Visio layout.

Starting the Simulation

You may start the simulation by:

Selecting Simulate from the Process Simulator menu.
Selecting the Simulate icon from the Process Simulator toolbar.
Right clicking on a blank portion of the Visio layout and choosing Simulate Drawing from the right-click menu.
Opening the Simulate Scenarios dialog from the Process Simulator menu or toolbar, and selecting Run Scenarios. Note: this will begin simulating the enabled scenarios of your model, and not the base model.

As the simulation begins, your process will be compiled and translated. During this time, the model will be checked for errors and common mistakes. If you receive an error message, the simulation will not begin, and you may have to make changes to your process to correct any mistakes.

Run-time Options During Simulation

Once compilation and translation of the process into a model is complete, the layout view will change to reflect the run-time environment. During run-time you will have several Run-Time Options.

Completion of the Simulation

Upon completion of the simulation, you will be prompted whether you would like to view simulation results. Click Yes to open the Output Viewer or Minitab. For more information about selecting an output, see Viewing Output Results.