Enrico Briano

Agent directed HLA simulation for complex supply chain modeling

The authors outline a new modeling methodology designed to simulate a complex logistics network and to ensure interoperability through application of Intelligent Agent High-Level Architecture for distributed supply chain management.

Evaluation of the impact of different human factor models on industrial and business processes

Abstract The human factor is becoming a main topic in modelling and simulation; this paper proposes an approach for evaluating quantitatively the potential benefits for introducing these aspects versus the different possible modelling alternatives in order to support the simulation experts. In particular, this research is focused on micro-logistics in order to emphasise the impact of human behaviour in industrial and business processes, providing also real cases as support for validation of the proposed approach.

Using system dynamics for short life cycle supply chains evaluation

This work is part of an Italian National Research Project embracing different aspects of a short life-cycle products supply chains: its modeling, its resiliency and its competitiveness. In fact, this particular kind of products, like fashion goods, toys or electronic devices, have different characteristics compared with long-medium life cycle products and this implies a quite different management as well as competitiveness factors to take into account. Starting from the modeling of a supply chain of this kind, utilizing the Powersim Studio Software implementing the System Dynamics methodology, with the goal of showing its behavior under specific scenarios, some vulnerability causes have been considered in order to make the supply chain more resilient. Finally, the competitiveness dynamics between two companies producing short life cycle items has been modeled and analyzed.

A simplified human cognitive approach for supporting crowd modeling in tunnel fires emergency simulation

This work focuses on the human behavior during an evacuation of a motorway tunnel. First of all the technical prescriptions have been taken into account, according with the current legislation updated after the Mont Blanc Tunnel tragedy of March 1999. In order to study how people behave in case of emergency an innovative simplified approach has been applied based on a mix of Thomas Saatys Analytic Hierarchic Process (AHP) and Schmidts PECS (Physical Emotional Cognitive Social) Model. This methodology has been implemented in a simulation model implementing both 2D and 3D heat and smoke propagation in order to investigate crowd reaction during escape in tunnel fires emergencies. All the scenarios have been analyzed and evaluated using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Response Surface Methodology (RSM).

Anticipation models for on-line control in steel industry: Methodologies and case study

This paper describes a simulation system according to improve steelmaking’s efficiency and to monitor its performances by anticipating the next period workload. Usually the production planning in those cases is made by the use of Gantt diagrams, based on operator’s work. This means that if an accident occurs, the operator himself has to change in few minutes the production plan with a lower performance than the original one. The first consideration is obviously that the operator’s experience itself it’s not sufficient to re‐plan a performing steelmaking chain. Hence the necessity of simulation as problem‐solving technique in this complex situation. A brief introduction on this paper is devoted to identify the common problems in most plants about production planning, and this is indeed needed to define the boundary conditions and the framework of the problem. Then, a description of steelmaking processes and the general features of critical aspects about steelmaking planning (Paragraph 2) is given in order to understand the bonds, features, criticalities to be analyzed and implemented in the simulation model. In paragraph 3 a detailed analysis of proposed methodology and system architecture is given in order to make the reader understand the complexity that the Authors had to face in modeling the system and the solutions they found with approximations, considerations, techniques and algorithms that were the most suitable to be used in this particular situation. A short description of the likely steelmaking plant modeled and Verification and Validation (V&V) results are carried in paragraph 4. It was in fact very important in such a complex system, to define the acceptability of results in terms of verification of the correctness, validation of the results, and accreditation to the users. This is a generally valid principle in simulation, but moreover in a complex system modeling such a steelmaking process, where an error can cost millions. At last, in paragraph 5, the Authors present the conclusions of this work, with a particular attention to the savings that the simulation can bring to this real system, explaining the results of the case study to which it was applied, and the possible future developments of this research are discussed. This model can anyway be applied to other realities than the one exemplified in this paper.This paper describes a simulation system according to improve steelmaking’s efficiency and to monitor its performances by anticipating the next period workload. Usually the production planning in those cases is made by the use of Gantt diagrams, based on operator’s work. This means that if an accident occurs, the operator himself has to change in few minutes the production plan with a lower performance than the original one. The first consideration is obviously that the operator’s experience itself it’s not sufficient to re‐plan a performing steelmaking chain. Hence the necessity of simulation as problem‐solving technique in this complex situation. A brief introduction on this paper is devoted to identify the common problems in most plants about production planning, and this is indeed needed to define the boundary conditions and the framework of the problem. Then, a description of steelmaking processes and the general features of critical aspects about steelmaking planning (Paragraph 2) is given in order ...

System Dynamics Simulation as a Decision Support System for Evaluating the Impact of a New Supermarket Opening on Urban Traffic Flows

This work aims to analyze, with the System Dynamics simulation, the impacts of a new supermarket opening in terms of the traffic flows in the surroundings of a determined urban zone, in order to help decision makers to find the most suitable area and the proper number of car parks and counters to satisfy a certain customer level service, avoiding high waiting times and, consequently, customer losses. Among the different simulation methodologies, System Dynamics has been chosen because it allows to properly model systems that continuously change over time, that are affected by time delays and whose variables depend on their conditions at the previous time step. Traffic flow systems are included in this category of systems. Moreover, the software used for simulation, Power sim Studio™, allows the integration with GIS (Geographic Informative systems), which provides useful information on road mapping and users allocation.