Simio Models Movement of Armed Forces Between Germany and Afghanistan

With more than 10,000 customers and 800,00 active supply parts, the logistical system of the German armed forces – known as Bundeswehr – is one of the most complex networks in all of Europe.

Given the diverse responsibilities within the armed forces logistics and the variety of internal and external service providers, transparency is particularly important to achieve performance agreement and assessment of results.

In cooperation with the Bundeswehr University in Munich, German Simio partner ATS Prozessoptimierung and Brühl-based Konekta Consulting GmbH utilized Simio simulation software to explore the possibilities of different methods of operations research, specifically the use of simulation to optimize the supply chains of the Bundeswehr.

Key modeling characteristics:

Ease of use
3D animation / visualization of the processes
Understandability and transparency in the function
Graphically vivid display of the results achieved

As a COTS (Commercial-Off-The-Shelf) product, in my view, Simio fits perfectly in our first attempts to model the use of the armed forces logistics from Germany to Afghanistan said

The simulation is reproducible and speed can be adjusted. On one hand, many different scenarios for several situations with time periods spanning months can be played quickly. On the other hand, it is possible to complete slow repeats for the detailed analysis of critical phases.

Simio provides quantitative, reliable and reproducible results (Figure 3) and supports the careful control and optimization of the overall process instead of sub-optimization of sub-processes. It supports the analysis of impact of process changes, enabling the predictive analysis and planning of response to changing conditions or disorders, which is particularly important to armed forces logistics.

“In my view, Simio allows detailed analysis and individual ‘links’ as well as an aggregated end-to-end analysis and optimization of complex supply chains of the Bundeswehr. Simio [adheres] particularly well to the supply chain approach,” Mr. Konert said.