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Power BI & Simio Webinar - July 2020 Enhancing your Simio Results using Power BI MORE INFO AND REGISTRATION About the Webinar We're hosting this one to accommodate people in the central time zone as well as for people who missed the previous webinar Simulation modeling has many benefits, namely its ability to forecast and predict multiple scenarios. Simio does an incredible job of providing the user with incredible results, and Power BI enhances these results with useful insights and visualizations. This webinar will provide the benefits of using Power BI for Simio outputs, optimizing your analytics, and giving you a better understanding for decision-making purposes. What will be covered Overview of Power BI benefits with Simio Simulation models Real-world case study of a Simio project using Power BI dashboards Questions and answers for people attending the webinar More details Date: 09 July 2020 Time: 10:00 CAT (UTC +2) Duration: 45 minutes Location: Microsoft Teams (link on registration) Price: Free Hosts Jaco Botha Pr Eng, Managing Director, SE Marco Agas, Webinar Host, SET Presenters Nicolas Finn, Power BI / Simio Trainer, SET Hulda Viljoen, Simulation Engineer, SET

Hello, I was wondering if someone can help me with doing sensitivity analysis in Simio? So I know of the input parameters tab where I can see how much does the Objective function change by changing the time input parameters by 1 minute. But, I'm looking to see how much does a variation in a property in the model, for instance changing mis-identification rate, on the DIDO time and objective function. My thought process was just to run different scenarios and take the difference between the two and that would tell me how much it has a change. Yet, my professor suggested the following and I was still confused about how to do it: "So you can ESTIMATE a derivative by just COMPUTING (g(x + h) – g(x))/h for a small h. This is called “finite differences.” Thus, you can estimate sensitivities by running simulation experiments at different settings. In your case, if p is the nominal probability of misidentification, you can run an experiment at p + h also, then estimate the sensitivity by taking differences. Simio’s internal sensitivity analysis is able to estimate derivatives using a trick that works in some, but not all cases, without the need for an additional run. But when it does not apply you need a different method."

Hello Insiders, I'm new to Simio and having trouble modelling the simulation for my Master Thesis. I would like to model an assembly line with two servers. Both have 3 fixed tasks and one shared task - which can be executed by server1 as his last task or by server2 as his first task. If the task is executed by server1 or server2 should be decided for every entity according to a rule (e.g.: if there are more than 2 entities waiting in the queue at Server2, the task should be executed by server1, otherwise by server 2.) Now I used the Processing Task Editor, where I modeled Task 4 at server1 with a conditional branch type, but I'm struggling to formulate the condition. Similarly, at server2 I would like to model that the first task of this server should only be executed, when the Task4 isn't executed at server1. I would really appreciate every help!

Hi, Our team at SET did some work and we now have a tool to easily convert Arena Distributions. Feedback is appreciated and we hope his help in the process of moving Arena models to Simio. DistributionsSimioToArena.xlsm

This can be done by calling c# from simio and calling Matlab from c# with Simio API. Details can be found here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1569190X16301356 And here: https://www.simio.com/resources/events/2018-User-Group-Meeting/presentations/API.pdf But another problem is that how do we pause Simio until the MATLAB problem is finished? Any suggestions on this?

Hi Glen, I need your support for an error that I have to manage very often. My company set an automatic backup on One Drive and that is creating problem to load your Add-In. The body of the error is the following: Exception in loading types from 'C:\Users\username\OneDrive \documents\.\SimioUserExtensions\ExportImportModelAddIn.dll', message: 'Could not load file or assembly 'file:///C:\Users\username\OneDrive\documents\SimioUserExtensions\ExportImportModelAddIn.dll' or one of its dependencies. Operation is not supported. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80131515)' Loading 'C:\Users\username\OneDrive\documents\.\SimioUserExtensions\ExportImportModelAddIn.dll' may have failed because the DLL was copied from another computer and has been blocked by Windows. To unblock it, copy the file to a user writable directory, right click on it and select Properties, on the General tab, click Unblock, then click OK, and then copy it back to your UserExtensions folder if necessary. Off course the file is unblocked, do you have some suggestion to fix it? Simio version is 11.197.19514.0

Hi LizMB, Without evaluating your model in detail, that error is due to a transfer not being completed (transfer request while entity is still being transferred previously). It is typically when you make use of a transfer step and either not end the transfer (using and "End Transfer" step), before transferring it again or when Simio attempts to transfer the entity (due to inherent worker/node/vehicle logic) before the end transfer is completed. It could also be if you interrupt something before a transfer action has completed. What also happens is when you have processes executing e.g. On-Entered and the same entity executes one or more such processes at the same time, resulting in a inherent transfer request before the previous has completed. It could be a matter of timing or the sequence of events, or a problem in your logic. When you are using a transfer step in your logic it is useful to have a process with an End Transfer step that is either subscribed to certain events or executed on an event triggered e.g. StationName.Entered. If you were to interrupt a process/action, you can either fire the trigger event or just use logic to test whether the entity has transferred. With an add-on process it is best to understand the sequence of events happening in the Simio logic and ensure certain logic gets completed first or that you don't have parallel requests at the same time. As you can see there are multiple ways to address something like this and your approach depends on your logic and the system being modeled. Good Luck. H

Hi LizMB, I have a few specific recommendations for you below, but generally I suggest looking into the SimBit models provided on Simio's Support Ribbon. A PDF opens with each model that contains a detailed description, so they are a great tool for learning specific approaches and techniques. A few that I believe are related to your particular problem are "Moveable Operator", "Interruptible Operator","Keeping Worker Reserved", and "Entity Follows Sequence". Worker1 carries both entities to their respective nodes and leaves them in their respective stations after worker(A/B) "checks them" (I used a delay to simulate this check) and then Worker1 moves on. For this objective, I suggest setting up your drop off stations A and B as a Servers. Use the Processing Time property to represent the "check" while seizing both workers needed (see the Operator related SimBit for more information). Make sure all entities are assigned a sequence, so Worker 1 knows where to drop them off. The worker(A/B) only picks up the entity if needed. So if the worker was with another entity in process (like Srv(A/B)), he would go check the new entity so that worker1 can move on, but would return to finish out the first entity to the end. Assign entities that enter the pick up stations a higher priority, and interrupt the Workers at SrvA and Srvb if a pick up task arrives (See Interruptible Operator for more information). Ensure that the Workers have the needed paths to travel to all of the destinations required in all directions. Currently, WorkerA and WorkerB cannot travel to the Outputs of the Servers. Other suggestions: Look into using a Timer Element that could trigger the entity creations at SrcA and SrcB. That should remove the need for Source1 and Sink1. If the Worker's travel doesn't need to be defined by a path, I suggest setting the Initial Travel Mode to 'Free Space Only'. The error message you are receiving is related to the Add-on Processes on the A and B nodes. Whenever Worker 1 enters either of those nodes the process is triggered and tries to complete the process with relation to the Worker. Restructuring the model with Servers in this area should help you get around this issue. Thanks, Ryan

I'm having some trouble with worker actions and transfer steps. Below is a picture of my current model. I have also attached the simio file itself. What I want to happen: Worker1 carries both entities to their respective nodes and leaves them in their respective stations after worker(A/B) "checks them" (I used a delay to simulate this check) and then Worker1 moves on. The worker(A/B) only picks up the entity if needed. So if the worker was with another entity in process (like Srv(A/B)), he would go check the new entity so that worker1 can move on, but would return to finish out the first entity to the end. My problem: Worker1 doesn't wait for the other workers to check and move on, just puts in station and moves on. I can suspend and resume the processes and get the worker to the (A/B)PICK nodes, but the worker picks the new entity up and starts that. The entity they were working on before just vanishes or something. Then everything becomes a standstill. Lastly, I run into this transfer error so much, and can never figure out exactly what causes it. ModelForQuestionCOPY2.spfx

Hello everyone, I met a problem during the use of 'CallMatlab' UserExtension process. I am using Simio 8, MATLAB 2019a, and Windows 10, following the process introduced here: The problem is that when Simio is trying to call MATLAB function, some files are not registered and a certain dll cannot be found. Has anyone met such a problem before? Or is there anyway to write the CallMatlab myself? Thank you. Shu

Hi, Your issue is that Input@STBR_01_54 is a reference to a Simio object. You want to write out the string name of the object. You should use Input@STBR_01_54.Name Regards, Lucas

Thank you for your replying, this SimBit define only one failure in the reliability logic properties(Processing Time Based Failure) and one by using Add-on process logic (Processing Count Based Failure). However, in this model I need to define seven types of failure event (Processing Time Based Failure), and seven type for time to repair only for one server, each failure type has its own failure and repair distribution, is there approach in simio can define this? For example for first server, time to failure and time to repair distribution as follow: Time to Failure: Loglogistic(2.62 , 0.67) , Weibull(208 , 0.62) , Lognormal(152 , 14) , Weibull(7.63 , 1.188) , Exponential(500) , Exponential(597) , Generalized Gamma(0.01 , 0.15) Time to repair: Lognormal(4.45 , 3.69) , Loglogistic(1.37 , 0.26) , Generalized Gamma(0.483 , 0.013) , Weibull(7.2 , 1.8) , Loglogistic(1.37 , 0.26) , Loglogistic(2.1 , 0.1) , Lognormal(6.4 , 4.9)

Hello I am a new user of the "Simio" software. I have just started using this superb software but I am currently experiencing modeling difficulties. In fact, I have a nomenclature to model and I want someone to help me carry out this modeling, here is the nomenclature to model: I started making a small model but I don't know if it's correct or not, here is what I did: Can i have some help please ?

Thanks, but I tried with a decide step before the tally that verify State>0. And it works perfectly. How ever, Where comes from the .lastrecordedvalue? Because it didn't appear in the expression tab but the Simio's model accept the expression and it surprised me pleasantly

Power BI & Simio Webinar - May 2020 Enhancing your Simio Results using Power BI MORE INFO AND REGISTRATION About the Webinar Simulation modeling has many benefits, namely its ability to forecast and predict multiple scenarios. Simio does an incredible job of providing the user with incredible results, and Power BI enhances these results with useful insights and visualizations. This webinar will provide the benefits of using Power BI for Simio outputs, optimizing your analytics, and giving you a better understanding for decision-making purposes. What will be covered Overview of Power BI benefits with Simio Simulation models Real-world case study of a Simio project using Power BI dashboards Questions and answers for people attending the webinar More details Date: 28 May 2020 Time: 10:00 PT / 17:00 GMT Duration: 1 hour Location: Microsoft Teams (link on registration) Price: Free Hosts Jaco Botha Pr Eng, Managing Director, SE Marco Agas, Webinar Host, SET Presenters Nicolas Finn, Power BI / Simio Trainer, SET Hulda Viljoen, Simulation Engineer, SET

Aytac, Investigate using Task Sequence with a Server object, available in Simio 7.119 and later. There are many SimBits which can assit you in getting up to speed, in addition to our Help. You can access SimBits (small models which documentation that illustrate a concept or feature) via the Support ribbon of the software, or at <C:\Users\Public\Documents\Simio>. Happy modeling! [/] Alex

I have an application where a single entity gets worked on by two different operators at the same time with different completion times. This occurs on 10+ workstations in the flow line in the application. What is the best mechanism to model this in Simio? Ideally, I would like to be able to adjust the processing time of each operator to engage in line balancing, and the ability to create standard WIP processes. Thanks, Aytac

Hello I am a new user of the "Simio" software I have just started using this superb software but I am currently finding modeling difficulties. In fact, I have a nomenclature to model and I want someone to help me carry out this modeling, here is the nomenclature to model: I started making a small model but I don't know is it correct or not, here is what I did: Can I have some help please ?

I am very new to simio and need to create a model for a class. My problem statement is based on services provided by a cafetería. I have 3 types of clients, with their respective proportions. Additionally, each client has their own sequence. I have already made a data table with the proportions and a sequence table for each client. After the clients finish their sequence, every client goes to the same sink (which represents the cashier). What I don't know how to do is show how that sink can provide two types of services: credit cards and cash. On top of that, the credit card service must be 63% of the total entities that go into the system. I will really appreciate any help you can give me!

Hi, Was just wondering whether someone has a tool to quickly convert Arena Distributions to Simio? Regards, Willem

Dave, Thanks very much for your kind reply! I will take a look. Our intent is to do the "right" thing experimentally and initialize a bunch of task time states up front into the entities. This will mean carrying all those state values along through the processing. Since the number of entities is not particularly large at any one time I assume Simio will handle it. Best Regards, Jim

I have attached a simple example of one approach. 1) I edited the ModelEntity object and added a state array of type MatrixFromTable. This type of array is automatically initialized from a table. Ideally I might have also added a table to the entity, but Simio doesn't work that way. Instead, I added a RepeatGroup named InitializationValues consisting of a Real property. I used this repeat group as a way to essentially add a "table" into the object, since internal to Simio there is almost no difference between a table and a repeat group. 2) Back in the model I added a table and then imported data into that table from Excel. I used 10 rows, but I could have imported 350 rows with no change to anything else. 3) Now when you place the ModelEntity object into a model, you can pass a table into the InitializationValues repeat group. Again, intead of just typing a bunch of values into the repeat group, I just say go get the whole repeat group from a specified table. This has the result of sizing that state array inside the model entity to match the current size of the table, and then initializing the state values to whatever is in the table. 4) If you run the model, you can open the Watch window on any entity and view the values of its states. I expect this won't solve all your problems, but maybe it will give you a fresh approach to consider. ImportStateValues.spfx ImportStateValues.xlsx

Hi all, I am working on a building evacuation project through Simio. I want to know how can I block a sink object, so entities can not exit through that sink. I also need to know if I can somehow define this situation in referenced property under Experiment and try different scenarios. For example in each scenario I block one of the exits and monitor the number exited (survivors) or evacuation time. My other problem is simulating fire with different rates and interaction of it with the entities, as when they see fire they avoid running toward that direction and change the route. Thank you for your help,

Hello every body. I am a beginner on SImio and this software is very powerfull. I have a problem I want to modify Fixed route vehicle's destination. I don't want a vehicle on demand.I need a fixed route vehicle. But I need to modify the vehicle's destination. Because I want the first vehicle Go to the first source and i want the second vehicle go to the second sources. And I have 80 vehicle and i want this loop destination for all vehicle. It's works very well for the First 5 vehicles ( For Source_Aub_Char in my model) and it's doesn't work for the sixth and after it's works. But my method doesn't work for all vehicle. I don't understand why. My method is : - I select the current vehicle with "Path1.Contents.FirstItem" - And After with "set Row" i selected différent sequences table for the current vehicle - I do a count for the number vehicle entrance and the model choice the good sequence table with this counter. There is my simplify model in attachement. Some body can help me to see what's wrong or to give me a better method ? Thank you very much. And sorry for my english i'm french. Question FOrum.spfx

Dear Simio employee, I have two questions about 'getting' the average holding time for all the realisations of my subclassed vehicle. I want to know how long an entity is on a vehicle, on average. I tried it with two processes, but both don't work. I don't understand why the following doesn't work (process GemTijdOpAGV): And I also don't understand why the process TijdContainerOpVoertuig doesn't work. I don't understand the error: 'Model Entity does not match the model', or something like that. I created two instances of de model entity, named 'container and pallet', but it seems like I can't use model entity in some processes and in others I can. Why is that and when can you use model entity and when not? (This is also true for instances of a vehicle.) I have attached the model below, but it is still in progress. I hope to hear from you soon! With kind regards, Thomas Haven_v1 project DS model met RS en dus intelligent MTS.spfx