National Institute of Technology Calicut Department of Mechanical Engineering

Simulation Exercise Problems for Modelling in

ARENA

Problem 1
Develop a model of a simple serial two-process system. Items arrive at the system with a
mean time between arrivals of 10 minutes, with the first arrival at time 0. They are
immediately sent to Process 1, which has a single resource with a mean service time of 9
minutes. Upon completion, they are sent to Process 2, which is identical to (but
independent of) Process 1. Items depart the system upon completion of Process 2.
Performance measures of interest are the average numbers in queue at processes and the
total time in system of items. Using replication length of 10,000 minutes and 5
replications, compare the results for the following input distributions:

(a) Exponential interarrival times and exponential service times

(b) Constant interarrival times and exponential service times
(c) Exponential interarrival times and constant service times
(d) Constant interarrival times and constant service times
Consider first 500 minutes as warm-up period. Show the result graphically.

Industrial Engineering Lab August 2014

 National Institute of Technology Calicut Department of Mechanical Engineering

Problem 2

A proposed production system consists of five serial automatic workstations. The

processing times at workstations are constant: 11, 10, 11, 11, and 12 (all times given in
this problem are in minutes). The part interarrival times are UNIF(13,15). There is an
unlimited buffer in front of all workstations, and we will assume that all transfer times are
negligible or zero. The unique aspect of this system is that at workstations 2 through 5
there is a chance that the part will need to be reprocessed by the workstations that
precedes it. For example, after completion at workstation 2, the part can be sent back to
the queue in front of workstation 1. The probability of revisiting a workstation is
independent in that the same part could be sent back many times with no change in the
probability. At present, it is estimated that this probability, the same for all four
workstations, will be between 5 % and 10 %. Develop the simulation model and make six
runs of 10,000 minutes each for probabilities of 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 %. Consider first 500
minutes as warm-up period. Using the results construct a plot of the average cycle time
(system time) against the probability of a revisit. Also include the maximum cycle time
for each run on your plot. Run the model for 5 replications and compare the results.

Industrial Engineering Lab August 2014

 National Institute of Technology Calicut Department of Mechanical Engineering

Problem 3

A production system consists of four serial automatic workstations. Jobs arrive at the first
workstation as exponential with mean 8. All transfer times are assumed to be zero and all
processing times are constant. There are two types of failures: major and jams. The data
for this system are given in the table below (all times are in minutes). Use exponential
distributions for the uptimes and uniform distributions for repair times (for instance,
repairing jams at workstation 3 is UNIF (2.8, 4.2)). Run your simulation for 10,000
minutes to determine the percent of time each resource spends in the failure state and the
ending status of each workstation queue. Consider first 500 minutes as warm-up period.
Run the model for 5 replications and show graphically the results for single replication
and 5 replications

Workstation Major Failure Means Jam Means

Number Process Time Uptimes Repair Uptimes Repair
1 8.5 475 20,30 47.5 2, 3
2 8.3 570 24,36 57.0 2.4, 3.6
3 8.6 665 28,42 66.5 2.8, 4.2
4 8.6 475 20,30 47.5 2, 3

Industrial Engineering Lab August 2014

 National Institute of Technology Calicut Department of Mechanical Engineering

Problem 4

An Office that dispenses automotive licenses plates has divided its customer into
categories to level the office workload. Customers arrive and enter one of three lines
based on their residence location. Model this arrival activity as three independent arrival
streams using an exponential interarrival distribution with mean 10 minutes for each
stream, and an arrival at time 0 for each stream. Each customer type is assigned a single,
separate clerk to process the application forms and accept payment, with a separate queue
for each. The service time is UNIF (8,10) minutes for all customer types. After
completion of this step, all customers are sent to a single, second clerk who checks the
forms and issues the plates (this clerk serves all three customer types, who merge into a
single first-come, first-served queue for this clerk). The service time for this activity is
UNIF (2.66, 3.33) minutes for all customer types. Develop a model of this system and
run it for 5,000 minutes, observe the average and maximum time in system for all
customer types combined. Consider first 500 minutes as warm-up period. Run the model
for 5 replications and show graphically the results for single replication and 5
replications.
A consultant has recommended that no need to differentiate customers at the first stage
and use a single line with three clerks who can process any customer type. Develop a
model of this system, run it for 5,000 minutes, and compare the results with those from
the first system.

Industrial Engineering Lab August 2014

 National Institute of Technology Calicut Department of Mechanical Engineering

Problem 5

Customers arrive at an order counter with exponential interarrivals with a mean of 10

minutes; the first customer arrives at time 0. A single clerk accepts and checks the orders
and processes payments, taking UNIF (8,10) minutes. Upon completion of this activity,
orders are randomly assigned to one of two available stock persons (each stock person
has a 50% chance of getting any individual assignment) who retrieve the orders for the
customers, taking UNIF (16,20) minutes. These stock persons only retrieve orders for
customers who have been assigned specifically to them. Upon receiving their orders the
customers depart the system. Develop a model of this system and run the simulation for
5,000 minutes, observing the average and maximum customer time in system. Consider
first 500 minutes as warm-up period. Run the model for 5 replications and show
graphically the results for single replication and 5 replications.

A bright, young engineer has recommended that they eliminate the assignment of
an order to a specific stock person and allow both stock persons to select their next
activity from a single first-come, first-served order queue. Develop a model of this
system for 5,000 minutes, and compare the results to the first system. Animate your
model.

Industrial Engineering Lab August 2014

 National Institute of Technology Calicut Department of Mechanical Engineering

Problem 6

Items arrive from an inventory-picking system according to an exponential interarrival

distribution with mean 1.1 (all times are in minutes), with the first arrival at time 0. Upon
arrival, the items are packed by one of four identical packers, with a single queue
“feeding” all four packers; the packing time is TRIA (2.75, 3.3, 4.0). Packed boxes are
then separated by type (20% international and 80% domestic), and sent to shipping.
There is a single shipper for international packages and two shippers for domestic
packages with a single queue feeding the two domestic shippers. The international
shipping time is TRIA (2.3, 3.3, 4.8), and the domestic shipping time is TRIA (1.7, 2.0,
2.7). This packing system works three 8-hour shifts, five days a week. All the packers
and shippers are given a 15-minute break two hours into their shift, a 30-minute lunch
break four hours into their shift, and a second 15-minute break six hours into their shift;
use the wait schedule rule. Run the simulation for four weeks (twenty working days) to
determine the average and maximum number of items or boxes in each of the three
queues. Consider first day as warm-up period. Run the model for 5 replications and show
graphically the results for single replication and 5 replications.
Run the simulation for two days to determine the average and maximum number of items
or boxes in each of the three queues. Animate your model, including a change in the
appearance of entities after they are packed into box.

Industrial Engineering Lab August 2014

 National Institute of Technology Calicut Department of Mechanical Engineering

Problem 7

Parts arrive at a single workstation system according to an exponential interarrival

distribution with mean 21 seconds; the first arrival is at time 0. Upon arrival, the parts are
initially processed. The processing-time distribution is TRIA (16, 19, 22) seconds. There
are several easily identifiable visual characteristics that determine whether a part has a
potential quality problem. These parts, about 10% (determined after the initial
processing), are sent to a station where they undergo a thorough inspection. The
remaining parts are considered good and are sent out of the system. The inspection-time
distribution is 95 plus a WEIB (48.5, 4.04) random variable, in seconds. About 14% of
these parts fail the inspection and are sent to scrap. The parts that pass the inspection are
classified as good and are sent out of the system. Run the simulation for 10,000 minutes to
observe the number of good parts that exit the system, the number of scrapped parts, and
the number of parts that received the through inspection. Consider first 100 minutes as
warm-up period. Run the model for 5 replications and show graphically the results for
single replication and 5 replications. Animate your model.

Industrial Engineering Lab August 2014

 National Institute of Technology Calicut Department of Mechanical Engineering

Problem 8

A proposed production system consists of five automatic workstations. The processing

times at each workstation are constant: 11, 10, 11, 11 and 12 (all times are minutes). The
part interarrival times are UNIF (13,15). There is an unlimited buffer in front of all
workstations, and we will assume that all transfer times are zero. The unique aspect of
this system is that at workstation 2 through 5 there is a chance that the part will need to
be reprocessed by the workstation that precedes it. For example, after completion at
workstation 2, the part can be sent back to the queue in front of workstation 1. The
probability of revisiting a workstation is independent in that the same part could be sent
back many times with no change in the probability. At present, it is estimated that this
probability the same for all four workstations, will be between 5% and 10%. Develop the
simulation model and make six runs of 10,000 minutes each for probabilities of 5, 6, 7, 8,
9, and 10 %. Using the results, construct a plot of the average cycle time (system time)
against the probability of a revisit. Also include the maximum cycle time for each run on
your plot. Animate your model.

Industrial Engineering Lab August 2014

 National Institute of Technology Calicut Department of Mechanical Engineering

Problem 9
Consider a production system consists of 4 machines which process 3 parts. The process
route of the parts, their processing time and the weekly demand details are given in Table
1. The weekly demand of the parts is normally distributed. Determine the average
manufacturing lead time, work-in-process and throughput (production rate) of the system,
and the utilisation of machines using AREANA simulation. Consider these parameters
for a 52 week period and the simulation can be replicated 30 times. Assume 5 day week
and 8 hours per day. That is, after every 40 hours demand as per the given distribution is
generated for various parts. Neglect the material handling time between machines.
Number of machines is one in each type of machine.
Part Machine sequence (workstation) with processing time in Weekly Demand
No. minutes Mean Standard
deviation
1 1(20) 3(25) 2(10) 4(20) 40 5
2 1(30) 2(20) 3(10) 20 2
3 2(20) 1(10) 3(10) 25 3
Table 1. Machine sequence, operation time and demand details
Also, verify Little’s law as applicable to production system for the above simulation data.

Some information for working out the problem 9

Demand data entering procedure in ARENA create module

The entering of demand data given in Table 1 can be entered in ‘create’ module as shown
in Figure 1. This data entry is as follows. In the ‘Entries per arrival’ right click to get
‘build expression’. Using build expression enter the demand data.

Estimation of system parameters from the simulation results

In a general Arena simulation model, at the end of simulation, parameters of each type of
parts are available. Using these, system parameters have to be determined. The procedure
for calculation of system parameters (average work-in-process inventory and average
manufacturing lead time) are given below.

Notations
Wj – Average work-in-process inventory of part j
Mj– Average manufacturing lead time of part j

Industrial Engineering Lab August 2014

 National Institute of Technology Calicut Department of Mechanical Engineering

SW – Average work-in-process inventory in the system

SM – Average manufacturing lead time of the system

Qj – Production quantity of part j during the stipulated production period

p – Number of types of parts produced by the production system
Models for system parameter estimation
p
SW  W j
j 1

p
Q jM j
j 1
SM 
p
Q j
j 1

Fig. 1. Screen shot showing demand data given in Table 1 entered in create module

Industrial Engineering Lab August 2014