Flexsim
| Developer(s) | FlexSim Software Products, Inc. |
|---|---|
| Stable release | 16.0.1 / April 1, 2016 |
| Operating system | Windows XP/Windows Vista/Windows 7/Windows 8/Windows 10 |
| License | Proprietary |
| Website | FlexSim product page |
FlexSim is a discrete event manufacturing simulation software developed by FlexSim Software Products, Inc. The FlexSim family currently includes the basic FlexSim simulation software and FlexSim Healthcare Simulation (FlexSim HC). It uses an OpenGL environment to realize real-time 3D rendering.
History
FlexSim was founded in 1993 by Bill Nordgren (Co-Founder Promodel Corporation, 1988), Roger Hullinger, and Cliff King, originally under the name F&H Simulations, Inc. F&H Simulations sold, supported, and conducted training courses for Taylor II simulation software [1] – owned and developed by Holland's F&H Simulation B.V (F&H Holland). In 1998, F&H Holland developed the first generation 3D object oriented simulation engine Taylor ED (Enterprise Dynamics). F&H Simulations assisted with the development of robust objects for use in Taylor ED. In 2000, F&H Holland was acquired, and F&H Simulations became independent and was continued by Dr. Eamonn Lavery and Anthony Johnson. F&H Simulations, Inc. changed its name to FlexSim Software Products, Inc. and started to develop its own 3D simulation software, known now as FlexSim.[2] FlexSim 1.0 was released in February 2003 and the software has been in constant development since then. The most recent of FlexSim release is version 16.0.1, released on April 1, 2016. FlexSim HC was later developed for healthcare simulation.
The FlexSim Software Products, Inc. headquarters is located in Orem, Utah, U.S.A.
Application and uptake
As general purpose simulation software, FlexSim is used in a number of fields:
- Manufacturing:[3] Production assemble line,
- Logistics and distribution:[4] Container terminal operation, supply chain design, distribution center work flow, service and storage layout, etc.
- Transportation:[5] Highway system traffic flow, transit station pedestrian flow, maritime vessel coordination, custom traffic congestion, etc.
- Others: Oil field or mining process, networking data flow,[6] etc.
Main features
Program structure
FlexSim uses object-oriented design. FlexSim objects [7] are defined and programmed in four classes: fixed resource class, task executer class, node class and visual object class.
Drag-and-drop controls
Users can build the model by dragging and dropping the abstracted, predefined 3D objects from different classes to layout, link and functionalize the model. For the senior users, the entire dragging and dropping procedures can be realized and the object parameters and behaviors can be modified using both FlexScript and C++ programming languages.[8]
See also
- Comparison of agent-based modeling software
- List of computer simulation software
- List of discrete event simulation software
- Computer simulation
References
- ↑ William B. Nordgren. "Taylor II manufacturing simulation software". In Proceedings of the 27th Conference on Winter Simulation, IEEE Computer Society, Washington, DC, 401–404, 1995.
- ↑ FlexSim online company history website
- ↑ Erol Gelenbe, Hatim Guennouni, "FlexSim: A flexible manufacturing system simulator", European Journal of Operational Research, Volume 53, Issue 2, July 25, 1991, Pages 149–165.
- ↑ Liu, Miaomiao; Dong, Mingwang (2008). "The Simulation Technology of Port Container Logistics System on Flexsim". ASCE Conference Proceeding 330: 2547–2552. doi:10.1061/40996(330)376.
- ↑ Wang Weiping, Zhao Wen, Zhu Yifan and Hua Xueqian, "Survey on the Object oriented Simulation Method", Journal of National University of Defense Technology, 1999-01.
- ↑ Pierre G. Paulin, Faraydon Karim and Paul Bromley, "Network Processors: A Perspective on Market Requirements, Processor Architectures and Embedded S/W Tools", Design, Automation and Test in Europe Conference and Exhibition, p. 0420, 2001.
- ↑ Garrido, Joés M. (2009). Object Oriented Simulation. Springer. ISBN 978-1-4419-0515-4.
- ↑ William B. Nordgren. “Flexible simulation (Flexsim) software: Flexsim simulation environment”, Proceedings of the 35th conference on Winter simulation: driving innovation, 2003.