The Benefits of Using Computer Simulation Models to Support Decision-Making

Abstract

Improving the efficiency of a manufacturing company is an area of interest for both entrepreneurs and researchers seeking ways to achieve better performance. Among the many ways to support production systems, forecasting and simulation of production systems is one of a great interest. This is because, among other things, in the simulation process, the course of the various stages of production as a function of time can be analyzed in a way that is not practically feasible. This article is based on cooperation between the world of science and business. The aim of the paper is to present new opportunities for improving the efficiency of a viable enterprise. This article describes primarily a different approach to problem solving based on the simulation of the production process using the Vensim program designed to describe diverse environments. The paper is scheduled to be the first in a series that uses Vensim’s simulation capabilities. In this article, the focus is on presenting the process of building a simulation model and the overall benefits of this. Already the process of building the model has revealed very interesting areas of analysis, related to lack of tools to support current decisions. The reason for using the simulation methods was the problems observed in the company: the prolonged time of order execution, the risk of losing customers, the risk of negative audits. Thanks to the use of the simulation model in the current activity, the results were also obtained: defining places of delays, streamlining the flow of information, integrating actions and people, and a comprehensive look at the company’s activities.