An object oriented approach to simulation model construction for CIM systems

Simulation has been used as means of evaluating the performance of CIM (Computer Integrated Manufacturing) systems. The simulation modeling process for CIM systems, however, is quite complex and costly. To alleviate the problems of complexity and cost, an efficient modeling method is very important. This paper proposes an object-oriented methodology to share and refine the information on simulation modeling which is embedded in information repositories, such as corporate databases. Ways to derive the simulation models from an information repository and to generate executable simulation programs are also presented. A prototype system is implemented and used to build a simulation model of a tire manufacturing company to show the effectiveness and applicability of the methodology.