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I had once constructed a model where four servers shared a single resource pool. I had done that by setting their capacities to 0 and forcing them rely on the secondary resources seized from that pool. However, I am seeing that the current version of Simio does not allow that. If the server capacities are set to zero, they don't work at all. In other words, that shared pool can only be used as the source of their secondary resources. My question is, is there another method of forcing the servers seize their primary resources from a shared pool, like in the model of a fast-food establishment where just one employee accepts orders but also prepares fries and drinks and then the same employee delivers the completed orders?

Before you start adding state variables to a library object, I suggest that you first familiarize yourself with all of the existing states. One easy way to do this is to instantiate the object (e.g., Worker1) and then go to any expression field and type "Worker." and look at the list. In the case of Worker, there are over 100 states, functions, and properties built-in to the Worker object. Another way is to subclass the Worker, then go to the Definitions tab of the MyWorker object and you can see all of the built-in definitions by category: There is a pretty good chance that what you need is already there. But if not, use the same screen illustrated above and add whatever state (or property, event, ...) that you need. As far as referencing or assigning that custom state or a built-in state, it is done using ObjectName.StateName. For example if you added a state named TimeStartedMove to MyWorker, and you wanted to assign that value, you might assign MyWorker.TimeStartedMove to TimeNow. The tricky part, especially with more complex objects like Workers, is to determine exactly when/how to assign that value. Sometimes you can interact with the model itself to insert an Assign at the correct location (let's say in the Loaded Add-on Process). Or sometimes you might need to override the process logic in your custom object. The SimBits RecordDistanceTraveled and ElectricVehicle are examples to review.

Thank you for the quick and detailed response! I see the error I was making with work schedule and have tested it on one server, it seems to work as intended. Since each of my servers have a different capacity, would I need to create a unique work week and unique day type for them all? Or is there a quicker work around? The manual inputs for the date time are a great work around, I'm only modeling for a few years so I don't mind inputting a few dates. What I mean by there being no buffers is that no server can have a queue. I used a list for selecting the destination on the output node of each source (total of 8 ) where it's a hierarchy. It can go to a select number of servers and if all of them are full it goes to a dummy server of infinite capacity that exits the items to an overflow sink.

You want to make the servers have a Capacity Type of Schedule and follow the default Standard Week. If you don't want to give them a lunch break, just change the definition of the Standard Day. Leave the default Off Shift Rule of Suspend Processing. The easiest approach for arrivals is to have a Source with an Interarrival time of 4.33 weeks (or 4 weeks) and an integer random distribution for the Entities Per Arrival. Doing a "first Monday" is possible, but a bit complicated because Simio time does not have the concept of Month because months are of varying size. You could probably specify the initial Time Offset to be early in a month, then maybe make the interarrival time be something like DateTime.DaysInMonth(DateTime.Month(Timenow),DateTime.Year(TimeNow)) which would make the next arrival be exactly one month later (same day of the month). When you say you have no buffers, what do you mean? If an entity arrives when all servers are busy, should it be balked (possibly disposed) or should it wait somewhere like on the server input node, on a path or in the Source output node? If the above arrival approach isn't exact enough, you can put exact arrivals in a data table. The arrival time could be specified at any exact datetime you desire and still have the Entities Per Arrival be a distribution.

Hi Annika, Check out the Support Source Control option in the Project Properties. (Right click the project in the Navigation Window to access Project Properties)

Yes, and it did not work for me. The object-reference (server) property created (and named as "exampleVariable") does not appear in the property window of server objects.

Ok, I think that I sort it out. I am not very confident of what I do but I think that it works now: I changed the Vehivle "Routing Logic". Idle action: Go to home AND I changed for every server, secondary resources: Earlier it did not work because the vehicle was stuck at the sink waiting for an entity to be available at the source. The idle action for the vehicle was to "Park at home"..

Hello all I am relatively new to Simio and DES. I am trying to model a pallet conveyor. It is a closed loop conveyor. I use the "vehicle" as the pallet that loops around the conveyor. At the source the part (default entity) is loaded on the pallet. At the sink the part is unloaded. The problem that I am encountering is that the vehicles from time to time pile up at the sink, then after a certain amount of time they continue back to the starting point "Source1". This happens more the more I increas the "initialnumber in system" of vehicles The transfer-in Time for the sink is set at 0. At the model trace I read this for the "Input@Sink1" : "the in Token waiting at VisitNode step for '1' other processes to complete." I would apreciate any advice. Many thanks! Vehicle_stuck_at_sink.spfx

In addition - Based on error message, the destination selection step seems to be trying to use a reference table, (used at source output node), despite the particular node list being specified in the routing logic for the node in question, (i.e. Output@QC2 - see below). Thanks again.

I used the "DashboardForScheduling" simbit as an example for this case. For the order that is using "FinishedGoodA" material, I want to change the sequence after the welding process is complete if both shape stations are not available. So, I created an alternative sequence table and referenced in the process logic I created. Whenever this happens, I get same type of error message. Do you think this is happening because the normal routing table is referenced at the source object?

Rotary filler head object that represents animation of bottles rotating around a cylinder as they get filled. You can use a regular server if animation is not required. This object lets you define the number of filling heads, direction of rotation and rate (Bottles Per Minute), pitch of fillers heads (in degrees) and ReleaseType (Release type represents where the bottle will be released at 180 Degree from the start point or 270 degree). As seen in the picture above, Arrow represents the starting point. Users can also specify if they need fine control over the rotation of the filler heads. If fine control is set to True filler head will pitch by 1 degree. This provides smoother animation.Users will have to make sure the pitch is set correctly in relation to the release type if Fine Movements are set to False. With FineMovements set to False filler heads movement is equal to pitch defined. Users can also specify failure rate in similar way to server or other standard Simio objects. This object has not been extensively tested and it can be further customized to requirements. IndexingPlate - V4.spfx

Hello everyone: I am modeling a packaging system by means of a combiner. 12 equal members are grouped in a box (parent). Before leaving the respective source, members are assigned a value (0, 1, 2) as a state variable (ESV_P) to distinguish them by product type. I want the box to have the value of the products state variable. For example, if the box contains 12 type 1 products, the box should be assigned with a state variable ESV_B equal to 1. Any suggestions? Best regards.

Have you explored the properties in the Financial property group? It seems like the options there might automatically calculate what you are looking for without any custom objects or states.

Hi! I don't think you need to save those times stamps on MyVehicle. I would suggest you to use processes that triggers when the entity leaves the Output Buffer of the source and enters the Input Buffer of the server. To do that, create two process with the corresponding Triggering Event Name: Source1.OutputBuffer.Exited or Server1.InputBuffer.Entered, saving time stamps directly on the MyModelEntity.

Model.spfx Hello, i am trying to stop the transport time for my entity. The process logic is as follows: hen the entity exits the Source output, the time stamp (MyVehicle.Stamp) is assigned with the value "TimeNow". When the transporter drops the entitys to the servers input the time is stopped (New Value = TimeNow- MyVehicle.Stamp) and simio calculates the transport costs. The error is attached. I get the same error, when i use MyModelEntity instead of MyVehicle. The model name is "Model311" in the attached project "Model". How or where do I have to set the stamp correctly? Thank you!

ConveyorLibrary.spfx Simple conveyor library with a merge controller, slug conveyor, Slug Node and a Photo Eye. Library has two example models. A MergeControllerModel and a PE_ExampleModel. Merge controller,Slug Conveyor and Slug Node are used together to develop a slug merge. ConveyorLibrary.spfx On the slug conveyor you can specify the size of the slug. Slug node controls when the next slug is to be released. As soon as last entity in slug crosses the slug node it will send a signal to merge controller to release the next slug. Ending node of the slug conveyor has to be a slug node. Conveyors before and after slug conveyor are regular conveyors. These objects have not be extensively tested. These can be used to develop other conveyor related objects.

Hello River, I downloaded your files. The Gate512 was missing. I removed the information in the "30 Departure.xlxs" file that I can run the model ;-). Generally I understood how it works. Answer to your first question: I think you mean these two ways, right? From the left and from the right. In this case I saw that you used the "Routing Logic" in like all Transfernodes. The Outbound Link Rule is "Shortest Path" and you set the "Node Name" to "Input@Takeoff" Simio is using everytime the shortest link path now. Like in the screenshot below: In my opinion it would be better to set the destination once after the Entity got created in the Source for example :-). There are different ways to do that. In your model I removed all Routing Logic in the Transfernodes and used the Routing Logic only in the Output-TransferNodes of the Sources. In Simio you need only to use one time a SetNode-Step or a Routing-Logic to set the destination of an Entitiy and Simio will follow the paths or travel in the FreeSpace. You can use for example a NodeList with 2 different destinations and this Routing-Logic: With the "Selection Goal" Random Simio will randomly choose the destination from the NodeList. I uploaded you your model with the changes as an example: Problem on the taxiway version 17A.zip What did I changed? 1) I removed the Routing Logic in all TransferNodes. 2) I added new Routing Logic to the TransferNodes of the Output-Node of the Sources. 3) I added a NodeList with 2 new Nodes. 4) In the two new Nodes I used a Nodes-Entered-Process and a Transfer-Step to transfer the Entity to the Input of the Sink. Answer to your second question: You can change the destination of an Entity any time. In the Path (Link) you have a function called "NumberTravelors" for example to get the number of travelors currently on this path. So you can use a Expression like "Path123.NumberTravelors < 2". This can be used to decide if a way is full allready that the other way get selected. Or you can use a Integer-State and count up and down. I would use a Node-Entered-Process in the last possible node with a Decide-Step and two SetNode-Step in this case :-). I hope my answer will help you. When you have any other question, you are welcome! Best regards Pascal

Import ALL gates to the gate data table, regardless if they have flights or not. Make sure all Gate objects are following the departure arrivals. Done. If you have any questions, pm me.

I have attached a simple model using model states to illustrate. I think it should work in a similar fashion using entity states. First, I define the states: Then use those states as Sequence destinations: Until you provide each of those states a value, the Sequence will make no sense and the entity won't know where to go. So on the Source I use an Assign to initialize all the values. This will direct the entity sequentially through Servers 1-4, and then to the Sink: Finally, just to illustrate the technique, on the output node of Server3, I interrupt the normal sequence by Assigning it to instead go to Server5 as its 4th step: If you convert these states to Entity states instead (I was just lazy), I think it should work the same but allow you to selectively override any Sequence Step at any time. UsingStatesInSequences.spfx

It sounds like you are already set up to use a Source with Arrival Mode of Arrival Time and the Arrival Time Property of MyTable.TimeOffset (assuming that your table above is named MyTable). If the column named Object in your table above is the entity type you want to create, then specify the EntityType in the source to MyTable.Object. If the entity you want to create is something different, then add that new column to your table (say PassengerType) and specify EntityType as MyTable.PassengerType.

I have a table that allowcate 5 gates will have different entity will launch in specify date and time. How can i do it ? We are designing a airport simulate aircraft departure its gate.

What you can do is set up a table with a column of DateTime Property for the arrivals and change the Source Arrival Mode accordingly. I strongly recommend you guys to take a look on the Simbits available, they are a really good tool to guide you through your first steps into Simio. For instance, you can find the solution for your problem on a Simbit called AppointmentArrivals.

Hello! So I am using a source that is sending out 9 different entities, each with a priority 1-9. They are listed in a Data table called 'Part Data' This is the 'Table Row Referencing' call I am using in 'Before Creating Entities' in the 'Row Number' section: PartData.Priority.RandomRow I want to switch this to use a Random.Normal(mean, sd) - is that possible with discrete values in the table? Thank you for any help you can provide!

Hi All, I want to do some calculations just before the simulation ends. I did it previous versions without problem but now on version 15.247, "on run ending" add-on process is not being executed.I tested it even on a new simple model file with source server sink. There is just two assign steps with breakpoints on the add-on process. But in model trace it doesnt show the add-process name, the state variable value is not assigned, and breakpoint is not reached. Anyone experiencing the same problem in this version? Is there a quick solution to this? Or do I have to install older version? Kind regards, Tolgahan

Hi There, I have lots of experience in simulation but I'm new to Simio - my apologies if my Simio vocabulary/conceptualization is off or if this question has been asked already. I'm working to build a queue model simulation with a network of services and multiple staff types. In my mind, it makes the best sense to do this using the standard library of servers and resource pools (to visualize the network for stakeholders and be able to model multiple staff with different schedules that can each respond to multiple services). Right now, I am starting with a single stage M/M/c type queue to make sure that my implementation is correct before scaling this upwards. I checked out the SimBit titled 'Source – Server – Sink' that has three different M/M/c implementations; however, none of them use Resource Pool objects or combine process triggers with the standard library. I was able to implement a basic model that tries to combine a resource pool with a server by triggering separate Seize and Release process triggers on entry to the server object and after the processing time is completed, respectively. It runs without error; however, the results for average time in system (calculated by an average of a tally statistic that is only recorded for every 500th customer/entity), the results are one third less than in a scenario where I don't use a resource pool and set the capacity of the server explicitly, (which I validated against M/M/c formulae results). Does anyone have tips for how to link servers and resource pools and troubleshoot this scenario? Is there a SimBit or other example out there that is relevant? Am I triggering the seize/resource processes at the wrong points in time? Or is my framework for how to conceptualize this in the Simio environment missing a key concept? Thanks!!