This paper will describe an approach to the development of computer simulations - the 'four phase' approach - which aims to be more accessible than established approaches to non-specialist developers in manufacturing system design. This paper will briefly review the traditional 'three phase' approach and highlight its potential drawbacks. This paper will then go on to suggest that the benefit of the 'four phase' approach over the more established three phase approach that it is more suited to simulations developed through iconic representations. Such iconic representations are seen as central to the spread of simulation modelling into application domains such as manufacturing system design. The work reported here also suggests that complete modelling environments can be built around those iconic representations which allow the user the opportunity to concentrate on the manufacturing system's behaviour rather than on developing computer code to suppor...
Hamad I. Odhabi, Ray J. Paul, Robert D. Macredie