Kennedy PhD, MHA, FACHE Assoc Prof & Chair Dept of Healthcare Policy, Economics and Management University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler I was first exposed to ProModel simulation products as an alternative to GPSS-H when earning my doctorate in Decision Sciences and Engineering Systems at Rensselaer Polytechnic University from 1988 – 1992. I taught one simulation course as a graduate elective for the U.S.
Army-Baylor University Graduate Program in Healthcare Administration soon after graduation. Since then, I have employed MedModel as a component of several health administration courses, with simulation comprising approximately one-third of the course content. Simulation modeling is a wonderful tool to reinforce concepts from statistics and probability such as the effects of random variation, practical application of probability distributions, and employment of goodness-of-fit testing.
After I arrived in January 2017 at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler to begin teaching in our Master of Public Health Program, I decided to revise my approach to teaching quality. Previous iterations of my quality course had generally proceeded as follows: Content was taught face-to-face and students used their laptops to create process analysis tools and control charts with me in class. My decision to include Lean in the quality course provided the opportunity to learn and teach Process Simulator, another ProModel product.
ProModel - Better Decisions Faster. Proceedings of the 2010 Winter Simulation Conference B. Johansson, S. Montoya-Torres, J. Hugan, and E. Yucesan, eds. PROMOD is a fundamental electric market simulation solution that incorporates extensive details in generating unit operating characteristics, transmission grid topology and constraints, and market system operations to support economic transmission planning.
Process Simulator operates as an add-in to Visio. I couldn’t think of a better way to teach flow than to have students build process flow diagrams in Visio and then to model the flow of entities through the system using Process Simulator.
The revised course proceeded as follows: The first process model was built after an introduction to M/M/1 queuing formulas in an exercise to establish the correspondence between queuing and simulation. I modified a problem provided by Ragsdale (2004) to model Acme Pharmacy which has one pharmacist with the capacity to fill prescriptions from 12 customers per hour. The pharmacy averages 10 customers per hour seeking to fill prescriptions. Students used an M/M/1 Excel template to compute and characterize Acme Pharmacy operations and to record queuing formula and simulation results. The Process Simulator model looked like this: The comparison of the first two columns of Table 1 between queuing results and simulation results confused me until I remembered that the M/M/1 queuing formulas represented a steady state solution. An 8-hour run with 20 replications shown in the third column produced results more closely aligned, but not as close as expected.
Comparing Queuing and Process Simulator Results N ote – Expected times have been converted from hours to minutes. An extended 2080-hour run and an 8-hour run after an 8-hour warm-up were also subsequently modeled to determine if those efforts to move the system towards steady state produced results more closely aligned with queuing formula results. The results in the last two columns showed that to be true. During the remainder of the course, Lean principles were reinforced with a variety of Process Simulator models. Reference Ragsdale, C.
Spreadsheet modeling and decision analysis: A practical introduction to business analytics (4 th ed.). Mason, OH: Thomson South-Western. Kennedy, FACHE, arrived at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler on January 23, 2017 to begin service as an Associate Professor in the Department of Healthcare Policy, Economics and Management in the School of Community and Rural Health. He has 42 years’ experience in teaching and health services administration that have been divided between academic positions and operational assignments in the military health system as a human resources manager, equal opportunity advisor, ambulatory care administrator, and other positions of leadership culminating as the Chief Operating Officer of a small military hospital.
In past academic assignments, Dr. Kennedy has served as Director of the Health Services Management Program at East Carolina University, Director of the Doctor of Health Administration Program at Central Michigan University, and Associate Professor in the Health Services Administration Program at Slippery Rock University. Kennedy was also Deputy Director of the U.S. Army-Baylor University Graduate Program in Healthcare Administration where he was twice selected by the students as Instructor of the Year.
Kennedy is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives. He was appointed as Chair of the Department of Healthcare Policy, Economics and Management on September 1, 2018. Posted in. Huntington Ingalls Industries – Ingalls Shipbuilding (Ingalls) identified substantial savings potential in the lay-down placement and assignment process that had been previously utilized for managing asset location throughout the construction process.
Building four different hull forms in the tight shipyard footprint is a challenge. Ingalls Shipbuilding work instructions define the processes and responsibilities for the proper allocation and optimization of real estate (lay-down spaces) for structural units and assemblies under construction, while providing forward visibility for scheduled or potential overloads to capacity. However, the old capacity planning processes were tedious and overly time-consuming. Resulting real estate allocations were seldom optimal and often required substantial rework to resolve space allocation conflicts, as the construction schedules for each hull form jockey for the same production resources.
The Ingalls team developed an automated process that optimizes unit layout and scheduling, and increases the construction of many units under a covered structure, significantly improving production rates—a plus in the hot southern climate. “The new tool has taken a process that historically took 10 weeks to complete and can now finish the scheduling activity in less than an hour. Following project completion and full system implementation, we expect to reduce ‘real estate’ allocation processing time by 30% and place 20 more units ‘under cover’ annually, with an estimated cost savings of over $990K per year.” (Article Courtesy of “theSignal” and DefenseNews.com) Posted inTagged. Linda Ann Riley Ph.D. Univ New Haven As mentioned previously in the first post of this series, students in this final two-course sequence complete a technical capstone project. For the first time teaching in this program, I allowed the students to choose either ProModel or Process Simulator as the analysis program for their individual technical project.
In the Six Sigma class, the first sections of the technical paper were completed and involved identifying a process improvement opportunity in the student’s workplace, creating a project charter, value stream map, process flow chart, and undertaking extensive lean/six sigma statistical and qualitative analysis of the as-is process. Once complete, students then propose process improvement scenarios. The ultimate goal of the final class in the MSEOM program, Simulation Techniques and Applications, is to develop a moderate level of expertise using ProModel and then simulate both the as-is and the initial improved process design identified in the Six Sigma class. Through iterations on process improvement using ProModel, the end result is an improved process that meets stakeholder requirements.
One of the benefits of the students’ familiarity with Process Simulator was the number of common features between the two programs such as the Output Viewer environment, shared statements and functions and the Minitab interface. But students did exhibit some push back when it came to building a model in ProModel. To them, the Process Simulator environment was far easier to construct a model. From my perspective, in Process Simulator, they relied too heavily on default values that are automatically inserted when simulation properties are applied, as well as the input and output buffers associated with each activity. These features, e.g.
Input buffers, became the solution to any bottleneck in a process. On the other hand, compared to learning ProModel, these built-in defaults caused far less frustration for the students when first running the model. The models never became “gridlocked” because there were virtually unlimited buffers for each activity.
My intent in the simulation class was that every lab model and exercise undertaken in ProModel would be also completed in Process Simulator and vice versa. This seemed at first to be a good reinforcement for using both programs. Unfortunately, this strategy failed.
Relatively new to Process Simulator myself, I didn’t initially realize that several of the basic ProModel statements such as Group, Move With, Graphic and View, which had been required for my ProModel labs, were not available in Process Simulator. In addition, the class used the student version of ProModel. Consequently, when opening the Process Simulator exercises in ProModel, activities in Process Simulator, which correlate to locations in ProModel exceeded the student version limits. One of the reasons this occurred was because a single activity in Process Simulator translated to three different locations in ProModel because of the input and output buffers. The next time I teach the two-course sequence, I have a much clearer perspective of how to seamlessly construct the labs and exercises so they are interchangeable between the two programs. After attempting this experiment, it is now far more evident to me that Process Simulator is a superior product for modeling processes defined using process flow charts as shown below.
It is ideal for use in a Quality, Six Sigma/Lean Process Optimization scenario. I will definitely continue to use the product moving forward. ProModel best models highly dynamic scenarios where for example, detailed “scoreboards,” visualization of movement and external file reading and writing is required. In my opinion, it is best used for modeling large-scale systems with simulation as portrayed in the model screen shot below: I will also continue to use ProModel but I most likely won’t be using both Process Simulator and ProModel concurrently. Process Simulator is ideal for an introduction to modeling while ProModel allows for far more complexity in all aspects of modeling. In the end, approximately 20% of my students used Process Simulator as the modeling tool for their capstone project while the remainder used ProModel. For most of my students, CAD drawings of workplace layouts and GIS mapping files that accurately reflect scale and travel times were used as background graphics for their technical models.
In addition, many of the students used external arrival files containing multiple attributes associated with each entity arrival. Thus, ProModel was the software product of choice in these instances. My final assessment is that Process Simulator is a phenomenal product. With an expert level background in ProModel and Visio, the learning curve for me was practically non-existent. For students, their familiarity with the Visio environment made the introduction to Process Simulator both fast and challenge-free. Linda Ann Riley Contact Information: [email protected] Linda Ann Riley, Ph.D. Presently serves as an Adjunct Professor of Engineering for the University of New Haven’s graduate program in Engineering and Operations Management.
She retired from full time teaching and administration in 2015. Riley worked for 12 years at Roger Williams University (RWU) where she held the positions of Associate Dean, Engineering Program Coordinator and Professor of Engineering.
Prior to RWU, she was a Professor and Program Director at New Mexico State University for 18 years. Her teaching experience includes both engineering and business courses and she is the recipient of a number of corporate, university and national excellence in teaching awards.
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Riley is the author/co-author of over 100 articles, technical and research reports, and book contributions. Her area of scholarly interest involves stochastic system optimization using simulation and evolutionary algorithms.
Posted in. Linda Ann Riley Ph.D. UNH I have been teaching ProModel for the past 20 years and most recently in the capstone simulation course in the University of New Haven’s (UNH) M.S. In Engineering and Operations Management (MSEOM) program. In the course immediately preceding simulation, Six Sigma Quality Planning, I use both Microsoft Visio and Minitab as the software programs for course delivery.
This brings me to the topic of this blog post: my experiences this past Spring introducing Process Simulator into the ProModel /Visio/ Minitab mix. In a traditional semester setting, teaching four different software programs in addition to subject matter content could be achievable. But the University of New Haven’s MSEOM is delivered in an accelerated format with each class meeting six hours on one evening each week over seven weeks. The final two classes in the program are Six Sigma Quality Planning and Simulation Techniques and Applications. During these final two classes over 14 weeks, students also undertake a technical capstone project that fulfills a graduation requirement. The UNH MSEOM is directed to individuals with technical undergraduate degrees presently holding middle to upper level management positions.
Almost all of the participants in the cohort work in engineering related jobs at large organizations such as General Dynamics, Amgen, Pratt & Whitney, Lockheed Martin, Pfizer and General Electric to name a few. Fortunately, I have always had highly motivated students in each cohort I have taught over the past 10 years. From day one of the Six Sigma class, three programs were introduced, Visio, Minitab and Process Simulator. I use Lean Six Sigma and Minitab (5th Edition): The Complete Toolbox Guide for Business Improvement by Quentin Brook as the text for the class. Teaching for six hours per class requires a pedagogical strategy of moving from content delivery to computer exercises and back multiple times during the class.
This strategy has been highly effective over the years and allows for reinforcement of the subject matter and in-class practice and troubleshooting using software. Since most of the cohort had at least minimal exposure to Visio in the workplace, introducing Process Simulator proved to be rather seamless. The Quickstart and How To videos were assigned for homework on the first class and by the second class, my expectation was that each student could create a fairly straightforward process flow diagram in Process Simulator as an in-class lab. Process Simulator – First Student Model The mechanics of creating a process flow chart in the Process Simulator environment presented no challenges for the students. However, one of my lessons learned involved the information needed to move from the purely Visio environment to the Process Simulator environment. The level of detail needed with respect to the amount and type of information to accurately define properties for activities, routing rules and arrivals was of the same magnitude as needed for a simulation exercise using ProModel.
Output Viewer – Single Capacity Activity States Graph Consequently, some time was spent troubleshooting the models. Yet in the process, students developed a much richer understanding of how to use Process Simulator especially within the context of Lean and Six Sigma methodologies. After a reasonable level of proficiency was developed with Process Simulator, we were able to export data and further analyze results in Minitab. We will complete Linda’s story in the next post. Linda Ann Riley Contact Information: [email protected] Linda Ann Riley, Ph.D. Presently serves as an Adjunct Professor of Engineering for the University of New Haven’s graduate program in Engineering and Operations Management.
She retired from full time teaching and administration in 2015. Riley worked for 12 years at Roger Williams University (RWU) where she held the positions of Associate Dean, Engineering Program Coordinator and Professor of Engineering. Prior to RWU, she was a Professor and Program Director at New Mexico State University for 18 years. Her teaching experience includes both engineering and business courses and she is the recipient of a number of corporate, university and national excellence in teaching awards.
Riley is the author/co-author of over 100 articles, technical and research reports, and book contributions. Her area of scholarly interest involves stochastic system optimization using simulation and evolutionary algorithms. Posted in. Embarking on a simulation project can seem like a daunting task at times, especially if the project must be completed above and beyond one’s normal responsibilities. During those times, it is beneficial to consider engaging a partner to help.
Of course ProModel provides professional model building and, but another alternative is to partner with a University that teaches ProModel, MedModel or Process Simulator. This type of industry academia collaboration is a win-win for both organizations. Please check out this. The article was published in. Click to see a list of colleges and universities using ProModel software products. If you would like more information about our academic program, please contact us at or 801-223-4601.
Posted in. Christine Bunker Academic Program Director Teaching simulation to your students will give them a head start when they reach industry. Learn some of the benefits of including simulation as you teach techniques for process improvement. Accurate Depiction of Reality. Insightful System Evaluations.
Dynamics for Predictive Analysis. Understand Interdependencies. Better Experimentation and Data. Animated Visualization. Advanced Optimization Techniques.
Bottom Line Savings (Hard Dollar, Soft Dollar, and Labor Savings along with many Intangible Benefits) For more details on any of these topics visit to understand the benefits of simulation. Learn More about the ProModel Academic Program To learn more about the academic program, please visit our or review the. If you’re interested in joining the growing ranks of ProModel educators or have any questions, please contact us at to apply for a full professional license for academic use. Posted in. Mark Klee; Adjunct Professor – Eastern Kentucky University I know what you are thinking “From Reality to Model” shouldn’t that be the other way around? As an engineer at Toyota for the past 24 years I often encounter manufacturing processes that have slowly de-optimized.
And now, just by walking by the processes on the floor, I can see waste (motion, waiting, over-processing). I know this means that the these processes need some work. Our typical method of improving these processes would be to employ the traditional Toyota Production System tools.
We begin with observation and time study. Then we use video for motion analysis making these processes visual on paper with standardized work combination tables, standardized work charts, and production capacity calculations. Through these simple analysis tools, the waste in the process becomes more obvious and begins to generate ideas for improvement.
This is typically done one process or one zone of processes at at time. It is also usually done with paper, pencil, and stopwatch. The methods have proven time and again to be effective for process improvement and an effective method of developing engineers as well as manufacturing floor members in process improvement. After the waste is discovered and the improvement ideas generated it is time to try some improvement ideas.
The process visualization and capacity calculation documents are then modified to simulate the improvement idea. Then it is time to try the modified process on the production floor. The concept is tested in a controlled environment. After success is documented, the process standards are modified the team is trained to the new standard.
Using ProModel works very well with the Toyota Production System and as a method for developing manufacturing engineers, manufacturing floor members and students in manufacturing focused curriculum. In Eastern Kentucky University’s Applied Engineering and Management class, we follow this progression. We first focus on learning process observation and visualization skill using the standard Toyota Production System tools. Next we learn the processes of implementing controlled change in a mass production environment. We learn and practice these skills on the manufacturing floor to gain real world experience. After learning the basics of observation and improvement, we come back to the classroom where we employ ProModel to fine tune our processes and learn if there are any opportunities for optimization that may have been overlooked.
With ProModel we can also test scenarios that may be difficult to test on the actual production floor like moving a piece of equipment, modifying a cycle time, changing a conveyor length or changing a delivery frequency. These trials can be done as quickly as you can change the numbers in the model allowing for many more cycles of trial and error or trial and success in a shorter time. As a result of the course and ProModel, students have deeper understanding of both the theory and application of process improvement allowing them to be an instant contributor to a manufacturing organization upon their graduation.
In the end, deeply understanding the current reality through observation, documentation, and modification of the current process helps us make a more accurate model. The result of the more accurate model is further optimization. This deepens learning and the improvement cycle continues. Brief Bio: Mark Klee, BS Eastern Kentucky University 1990, MS Purdue University 1992 Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky 1994-Present Eastern Kentucky University Adjunct Faculty 2012-Present Posted inTaggedPost navigation.
Unrivaled flexibility and planning capability for Shipyards Shipbuilding is a long and highly complex process, presenting shipyards with multiple challenges including:. Multiple hull configurations / multiple vessels under construction simultaneously.
Limited space greatly impacted by changes in schedules and fabrication plans. Labor intensive planning activities.
Need to reduce operational expenses To help shipyards with these challenges ProModel launched ProShip. ProShip is a multi-user, “web” enabled application (limited by roles and rights) that uses an optimization-based automated capacity planner to create and publish laydown maps and a schedule indicating where items are to be located over time.
It provides shipyards with unrivaled flexibility and planning capability, enabling management and key stakeholders to visualize multiple production scenarios, analyze potential results and optimize decision making. What our customers say: 'The new tool has taken a process that historically took 10 weeks to complete and can now finish the scheduling activity in less than an hour. Following project completion and full system implementation, Ingalls expects to reduce 'real estate' allocation processing time by 30% and place 20 more units 'under cover' annually, with an estimated cost savings of over $990K per year.' — Article from theSignal. Product Home. Use Cases ProShip Key Benefits and Capabilities A “Single Authoritative Source of Truth” for Shipyard Capacity Planning and Productivity Strategic Benefits.
Perform what if analysis on potential future work loading through the shipyard. Success Stories Irving Shipbuilding - Capacity Planning & Shop Floor Foot-Printing Application Irving Shipbuilding recently completed construction on a world class fabrication facility in Halifax. Housed within a single closed structure, production efforts are no longer effected by the adverse weather the harbor can experience. Once the building was complete, the next challenge was to obtain a planning system that would allow the yard to realize its full potential. Their existing system presented several shortcomings that would not allow the facility to reach its full potential.
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