A General Simulation Framework for Supply Chain Modeling: State of the Art and Case Study
Nowadays there is a large availability of discrete event
simulation software that can be easily used in different
domains: from industry to supply chain, from healthcare to
business management, from training to complex systems
design. Simulation engines of commercial discrete event
simulation software use specific rules and logics for
simulation time and events management. Difficulties and
limitations come up when commercial discrete event
simulation software are used for modeling complex real
world-systems (i.e. supply chains, industrial plants). The
objective of this paper is twofold: first a state of the art on
commercial discrete event simulation software and an
overview on discrete event simulation models
development by using general purpose programming
languages are presented; then a Supply Chain Order
Performance Simulator (SCOPS, developed in C++) for
investigating the inventory management problem along the
supply chain under different supply chain scenarios is
proposed to readers.
Keywords: Discrete Event Simulation, Simulation languages,
Supply Chain, Inventory Management
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