Business Process Modelling Using Discrete Event Simulation: Potential Benefits and Obstacles for Wider Use

As Organisations need to adapt to new business conditions and respond to competitive pressures, various change management approaches have been developed. Many studies suggest that the success of business change projects could be increased by developing dynamic models of business processes prior to their radical change. This paper investigates a potential of simulation modelling to be used for modelling business processes and argues the case for a wider use of simulation techniques by business community. It is postulated that discrete-event simulation can be considered as a missing link between change management approaches such as Just in Time [JIT], Total Quality Management [TQM] or business process re-engineering [BPR]. The usability of simulation modelling for evaluating alternative business process strategies is investigated, and the guidelines for achieving more widespread use of business process simulation are proposed.