Simio Sync did not begin as a massive annual conference - it began as a question.
In 2017, as the IISE Annual Conference was preparing to come to Pittsburgh, a conversation between two Simio leaders would spark what would become one of the most influential simulation conferences in the world. Eric Howard, then VP of Marketing at Simio, approached Rich Ritchie, Simio’s VP of Sales at the time (now retired), with an intriguing proposition. Could Simio host its own user conference alongside IISE? Would enough customers be willing to stay an extra day - or travel specifically - to share how they were using simulation software in their operations?
The discussion wasn’t about marketing hype or product demos. It was about whether Simio had already built a diverse enough customer base across industries to sustain a true user-driven event. Rich’s perspective from the field, combined with Eric’s vision for community and storytelling, confirmed what they suspected: the interest was there, and the simulation modeling community was ready for something special.
That conversation ultimately led to the first Simio conference - and the foundation for what would later become the iconic Simio Sync that brings together aerospace engineers, healthcare administrators, manufacturing leaders, and government officials under one virtual roof.
2017: The Foundation Year - Proving the Concept at Drury Plaza Hotel
The inaugural Simio Conference took place in May 2017 at the historic Drury Plaza Hotel in downtown Pittsburgh, a venue that perfectly embodied the intersection of tradition and innovation. Located in the heart of downtown Pittsburgh, the Drury Plaza Hotel represented a historic renovation of the Federal Reserve Bank building, positioning attendees just steps from the David L. Lawrence Convention Center and minutes from iconic Pittsburgh landmarks including PNC Park, PPG Paints Arena, Acrisure Stadium, and the Andy Warhol Museum.
From the very first agenda, the event deliberately emphasized industry diversity. The goal was ambitious: showcase how the same simulation platform was solving problems in dramatically different operating environments. The organizers wanted to prove that a manufacturing engineer could learn something valuable from a hospital administrator, and that an aerospace specialist could gain insights from a government operations analyst.
The 2017 presentations delivered on this promise, spanning multiple sectors with remarkable depth. Lockheed Martin Aeronautics shared simulation models used in complex aerospace manufacturing environments, while Vancouver Coastal Health presented hospital patient flow and capacity planning models that were revolutionizing healthcare delivery. The conference featured sessions on DMV performance improvement and airport security throughput modeling, demonstrating how simulation technology was transforming public sector operations.
Academic contributions were equally significant, with presentations such as “Teaching the Lab-intensive Simulation Course with Simio” by Dusan Sormaz, establishing the educational value of digital twin technology. Manufacturing sessions focused on resource utilization optimization and flexible production systems, while Simio experts delivered advanced sessions on experiment design, dashboarding, and execution using Simio Portal.
Attendees quickly realized they weren’t just learning from their peers in the same industry - they were learning from problems they had never encountered before. The takeaway from year one was crystal clear: Simio had successfully brought together a community spanning aerospace, healthcare, manufacturing, government, and academia - and they definitely wanted to come back.
2018: Expanding Horizons at the Wyndham Grand
With clear validation from the inaugural year, the 2018 Simio Conference moved to the Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh, overlooking Point State Park and the iconic Fort Pitt. This strategic venue change provided attendees with stunning views of Pittsburgh’s three rivers confluence while maintaining easy access to the city’s business district.
The second year marked a significant evolution in both technical depth and industry representation. Sessions moved beyond introductory applications into automation, integration, and early Industry 4.0 concepts that would define the next decade of industrial innovation. The simulation conference was growing up, and fast.
Presentations highlighted increasingly sophisticated real-world use cases. Roche Diagnostics explored lab automation and simulation-driven capacity planning, while Bayer presented virtual factory and digital manufacturing initiatives that were ahead of their time. Química Amparo shared automated warehouse simulation and material flow optimization strategies, demonstrating how simulation modeling was becoming essential for logistics operations.
The conference expanded into energy and chemicals with sessions on oil terminal railcar loading and logistics modeling, while advanced manufacturing presentations covered fabrication, transportation, and robotic applications. Aviation and transportation sessions analyzed regulatory impacts on airport security throughput, showing how simulation software could help organizations navigate complex compliance requirements.
Technical innovation was equally impressive, with Simio experts delivering advanced sessions on APIs, reusable modeling assets, data-driven scheduling, and advanced process logic. The inclusion of “Industry 4.0 and Digital Transformation in Manufacturing Environments” signaled the conference’s evolution toward addressing broader technological trends.
A highlight of the 2018 event was the evening networking experience at PNC Park, which reinforced the sense that this simulation conference was becoming something special - a tight-knit, cross-industry community rather than a traditional corporate event.
2019: The Birth of “Simio Sync” and Digital Twin Innovation
The third year represented a pivotal moment in the conference’s evolution. The event officially adopted the name “Simio Sync,” reflecting its evolution into a forum focused on synchronizing people, systems, and decisions through digital twin technology. The prestigious venue upgrade to the historic William Penn Hotel in downtown Pittsburgh provided an elegant backdrop for this transformation.
The rebranding to Simio Sync wasn’t just cosmetic - it reflected a fundamental shift in how the simulation community was thinking about their work. This wasn’t just about modeling anymore; it was about creating digital twins that could synchronize with real-world operations and drive actual business decisions.
The 2019 agenda demonstrated how simulation had moved from analysis into enterprise-level strategy. Panera Bread presented its Virtual Kitchen, showing how digital twin technology informed layout, throughput, and staffing decisions across hundreds of locations. Spirit AeroSystems discussed delivery confidence and production planning in aerospace manufacturing, while Duke Health shared digital modeling of centralized telemetry systems.
Steel manufacturing leaders demonstrated production planning and capacity optimization at industrial scale, while federal government organizations showed how simulation modeling improved efficiency and effectiveness in public sector operations. The conference featured an Industry 4.0 Round Table Discussion with thought leaders including Gerrit Zaayman, Jeff Smith (before he was a Simio team member), Sebastian Urbina, Manuel Remehle, and Dennis Pegden, positioning Simio Sync at the forefront of smart manufacturing conversations.
The now-iconic PNC Park evening event featured the baseball version of the Pitt vs. WVU Backyard Brawl, creating a memorable networking opportunity that perfectly captured the spirit of Simio Sync - serious technical content paired with authentic community building. Attendees weren’t just colleagues anymore; they were becoming friends who happened to share a passion for simulation technology.
2020: Pandemic Pivot - Maintaining Community During Uncertainty
The fourth year of Simio Sync was positioned to be the most ambitious yet, with plans for expanded programming and record attendance. Then COVID-19 changed everything. Instead of canceling the event, the organizing team demonstrated the same innovative thinking that characterized their simulation work - they pivoted the entire conference into a distributed webinar series throughout the year.
This decision reflected more than just adaptability; it demonstrated a commitment to maintaining community connections and ensuring that valuable user stories and technical insights continued to reach the simulation community during a period of unprecedented uncertainty. The webinar series format allowed for more frequent touchpoints with the global simulation modeling community while accommodating the new realities of remote work and travel restrictions.
Content increasingly focused on resilience, scenario planning, and operational risk - topics that suddenly became critically relevant as organizations worldwide grappled with supply chain disruptions and operational challenges. The shift allowed stories from manufacturing, healthcare, life sciences, logistics, and government to continue being shared at a time when uncertainty was the only constant.
This adaptation proved prescient, laying the groundwork for the digital transformation that would define subsequent years of Simio Sync and demonstrating how the simulation community could practice what they preached about adaptability and scenario planning.
2021: Digital Transformation Goes Global
The 2021 Simio Sync: Digital Transformation marked a complete evolution to a fully digital format, expanding to a three-day event that maximized the opportunities presented by virtual delivery. This format breakthrough allowed for global participation and demonstrated how digital twin technology could enhance conference experiences themselves.
The keynote presentation captured the zeitgeist perfectly: “The Pandemic Push: Digital Transformation Takes On A New Sense Of Urgency” by Sachin Lulla, EY Americas Consulting Sector Leader for Advanced Manufacturing & Mobility. The session explored how COVID-19 had created unprecedented urgency around digital transformation initiatives, supported by Harvard Business Review research and practical implementation strategies.
The conference featured an impressive array of real-world applications. EY discussed why digital transformations fail and how simulation bridges strategy and execution, while Bayer shared digital twin deployment in pharmaceutical manufacturing. Advanced manufacturing leaders demonstrated smart factory and scheduling transformations, and aerospace and defense organizations explored crisis preparedness and continuous wargaming.
Technical sessions included “Staying Ahead of Next Crisis: Continuous Wargaming” by Vishal A. Varma and Hanzhang (Sally) Liu, which introduced proactive monitoring and scenario planning methodologies. The conference showcased simulation challenges at Lockheed Martin and innovative approaches from Bayer, demonstrating how leading organizations were leveraging simulation software to navigate complex operational challenges.
The digital format enabled more detailed technical presentations, including hands-on workshops and tutorials that would have been difficult to deliver in traditional conference settings. Simio Sync had evolved from a regional gathering to a global digital transformation forum.
2022: Practical Applications Across Industries
Simio Sync 2022 adopted the theme “Practical Applications,” emphasizing how simulation delivers value when applied deeply and correctly. This focus reflected the simulation community’s growing emphasis on translating theoretical capabilities into measurable business outcomes.
The conference featured breakthrough presentations across diverse sectors. Bristol Myers Squibb presented “Using Simio to Predict Bottlenecks in Cell Therapy Manufacturing,” addressing critical challenges in the rapidly growing biotechnology sector. Skyworks Solutions shared job shop modeling for semiconductor characterization labs, while Accenture demonstrated warehouse digital twins built for real operational insight.
Lockheed Martin continued their strong participation with complex scheduling and logistics modeling presentations, while TerraPower explored energy systems planning and scenario evaluation. Industrial consulting partners shared advanced logistics and material flow optimization strategies, and the conference featured sessions on “Integrating Gurobi Optimization into Simio,” highlighting how simulation software was evolving to incorporate sophisticated optimization algorithms.
Healthcare applications remained prominent with presentations on drive-thru optimization and clinical workflow improvements, demonstrating the continued expansion of simulation technology into service industries. The cross-industry dialogue highlighted how healthcare, electronics, energy, and aerospace often face the same structural challenges - just in different operational contexts.
2023: Unlocking Success Across QSR, Metals, and Pharmaceuticals
With the theme “Unlock Your Success,” Simio Sync 2023 focused on organizations that had successfully scaled simulation beyond pilot projects into enterprise-wide implementations. This represented a maturation of the simulation community from experimentation to strategic deployment.
McDonald’s delivered one of the most talked-about presentations: “Using Simulation to Understand the Operational Impact of Changing Customer Behaviors,” illustrating how major corporations were leveraging simulation software to adapt to rapidly evolving market conditions. Alcoa presented “Fully Integrated Simio Digital Twin to Synchronize Production at an Aluminum Smelter,” providing detailed insights into large-scale industrial implementations.
The conference featured “TwinAI: Empowering Digital-Twin with AI” by Mohammed Dehgani, which explored how artificial intelligence algorithms, including Reinforcement Learning and big-data optimization, were being integrated with Simio to provide actionable insights. This presentation exemplified the conference’s role in showcasing next-generation simulation capabilities.
Bristol Myers Squibb shared insights on governing and scaling digital twin adoption across pharmaceutical operations, while manufacturing strategy teams presented integrated scheduling and planning methodologies. DDMRP thought leaders demonstrated how demand-driven planning could be combined with simulation modeling for enhanced supply chain responsiveness.
Advanced technical sessions included “Simio Neural Networks: A Showcase” and “Data-Driven Modeling for Moveable Asset Logistics,” demonstrating how simulation modeling was incorporating machine learning capabilities to enhance predictive accuracy and automated decision-making processes.
2024: Adaptive Enterprises and Intelligent Process Digital Twins
Simio Sync 2024 centered on adaptability in a VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous) world, emphasizing intelligent, adaptive digital twins that could respond to changing conditions in real-time. The keynote presentation, “The Adaptive Enterprise” by Chad Smith and Carol Ptak from the Demand Driven Institute, introduced the Demand Driven Adaptive Enterprise (DDAE) model as a response to industry stagnation and the need for organizational agility.
McKinsey & Company’s participation with “Optimizing Production Processes with Simulation” demonstrated how leading consulting firms were integrating simulation technology into their client engagements. This presentation highlighted the collaboration between McKinsey and simulation software providers to boost throughput using genetic algorithms and advanced scheduling integration.
Technical innovation was showcased through “Introduction to the Simio Intelligent Adaptive Process Digital Twin” by Gerrit Zaayman, which presented next-generation digital twin capabilities that leveraged extensive simulation platform features. The conference also featured “Simio 17: What’s New in Simio’s Upcoming Release,” providing attendees with insights into the latest software developments and enhancements.
Real-world applications included “Penske Truck Leasing Operations Capacity Model to Support Company Growth,” demonstrating how simulation modeling was supporting strategic business decisions in the transportation and logistics sector. The conversations clearly reflected simulation’s rise from analytical support to strategic executive capability.
2025: Integration, Intelligence, and the Future of Digital Twins
Simio Sync 2025 pushed even further into capability depth, focusing on integration, extensibility, and intelligent automation.
Presentations highlighted:
- Seegrid – simulation for autonomous mobile robot solutions.
- Westinghouse Electric – digital twin scheduling in nuclear manufacturing
- Emory Healthcare – improving patient care through simulation.
- TMX Transform – last mile logistics and routing optimization.
- Argon & Co – multi site production planning and scheduling.
- Simio Product Teams – Python integration, AI readiness, and enterprise extensibility.
By this point, Simio Sync had become a stage for organizations actively shaping the future of operational decision making.
Looking Ahead to 2026
From that first conversation between Eric and Rich to today’s global digital conference, Simio Sync has always been rooted in one idea: the most powerful insights emerge when industries learn from one another.
We’re excited for the upcoming Simio Sync 2026 featuring presentations from Aegis, Accenture, McDonald’s, Spirit AeroSystems, Boeing, SimWell, Blacksmore, PointFWD, and Northwell Health - with more to come.
Simio Sync isn’t just a conference anymore - it’s a multi-industry movement built on shared challenges, shared solutions, and shared success. And it all started with a simple question about whether the simulation community was ready to come together and learn from each other.
The answer, as nearly a decade of Simio Sync has proven, is a resounding yes.