Setting up a simulation project and modeling resources

After you have created a model, you can simulate a business process.

To simulate the model, you must first apply the "Business Process Simulation" nature to the project. Adding this nature will create two new project artifacts which are required for model simulation ("configuration.experiment" and "simulation.resources").

• The "simulation.resources" file will contain resource definitions used to carry out activities in the process.
• The "configuration.experiment" file will contain the mapping of which resource(s) are used for each activity, as well as the definitions of the duration it takes for each resoruce to complete the given activity.

The basic steps required for setting up and running process model simulation are:

1. Add the Business Process Simulation nature to the project (described below).
2. Specify simulation properties.
3. Run the simulation.
4. Analyze the output.

To add Business Process Simulation nature to the project

1. Select the root project folder in the Artifacts view. Right-click, and select "Enable Business Process Simulation" from the context menu..
2. The simulation resource files described above will be created.

To add a resource or resource pool

To specify resource pools and resources, open the "simulation.resources" file in the Artifacts view by double clicking it. The resource model will be displayed in tree view.

1. In the resource model, right click the Resource Model node and select New Child from the menu. Select either Resource or Resource Pool. The two elements are interdependent; the one you create first will determine what property selections are available in the other.
2. Use the properties view to edit the properties.

A bulk resource element includes the following properties:

Property Name	Comments	Example(s)
Base Cost	Base cost for this resource	500
Base Cost Time Unit	Base cost time unit	Month
Description	Information that identifies the resource.	Day shift
ID	Generated automatically (a string)
Name	Resource name, usually a role or a position	Manager
Quantity	Number of resources	3
Resource Pool(s)	List of resource pools to which the resource belongs	Front Counter, Kitchen
Utilization Cost	Utilization cost	10
Utilization Cost Time Unit	Utilization cost unit	Hour (10 dollars per hour)

A resource pool can consist of multiple resources, and individual resources can be used in multiple pools. Resource pools will be associated with a specific activity within the process. If the resource pool is prioritized, the simulation engine will attempt to allocate a resource from the resource pool using the assigned priority. For example, the resource pool Front Counter, which consists of both Cashier and Manager resources, is assigned to perform the activity Taking Order. You can set up Front Counter as a prioritized resource pool and the manager will be asked to perform the Taking Order task only when there is no cashier available.

Property name	Comments	Example(s)
Name	Name of the resource pool	Front Counter
Prioritized	Whether resources is prioritized.	TRUE
Resources	List of resources. If Prioritized=True, the resource order matters. If available, the first resource listed gets the task. If that resource is not available, the task is assigned to the next resource in the list.	Cashier, Manager