Defining process simulation properties

Chapter 10 Simulating a Business Process Model

Defining process simulation properties

The PowerDesigner atomic process is mapped to the SIMUL8 work center, whereas the composite and implemented by processes are mapped to the SIMUL8 component.

The following simulation properties only apply to the atomic process; composite and implemented by processes do not have SIMUL8 extended attributes.

From the Simulation tab of the process property sheet, you can display the following SIMUL8 extended attributes:

Name	Internal code	Value	Description
Finance capital cost	FinanceCapitalCost	0	Capital cost. At the end of simulation, the accumulated data on the flows of money are displayed in the SIMUL8 Finance→Income Statement window
Finance cost by time unit	FinanceCostByTimeUnit	0	Usage cost of the process by time unit
Cost by unit	FinanceCostByUnit	0	Usage cost of the process by work unit
Replicate	Replicate	1	Effective number of processes performing the same tasks. Using the Replicate number is a way to copy the process
Priority	ResourcePriority	50%	If two processes both require the same resource before they can start work, the process with the highest priority will be given the resource first (from 0 to 100)
Release	ResourceRelease	true	If false, it means that resources must wait with the work item if the process is "blocked" (i.e. if it cannot send the work items to the next simulation object)
Bound lower	TimingBoundLower	10	Lower bound for the uniform timing distribution type. Samples from a uniform distribution are equally spread between the lower bound and the upper bound
Bound upper	TimingBoundUpper	11	Upper bound for the uniform timing distribution type. Samples from a uniform distribution are equally spread between the lower bound and the upper bound
Distribution	TimingDistribution	Average	Statistical distributions provide a method of simulating the variations that occur in timing in the process. Other values: Exponential, Fixed, Normal, Uniform
Standard deviation	TimingStandardDeviation	0	Standard deviation for the normal timing distribution type. For the average distribution type, this standard deviation value is set to: average value / 4

Note

The resource flow object supports the resource attributes of the process (resource min/max number, resource require)
Routing out properties cannot be modified, since they are set by PowerDesigner

For more information on how to display the process property sheet, see section Process properties in an Analysis BPM in chapter Building an Analysis Business Process Model.