Existing approaches for modelling maintenance rely on oversimplified assumptions which prevent them from reflecting the complexity found in industrial systems. In this paper, we propose a novel approach that enables the modelling of non-identical multi-unit systems without restrictive assumptions on the number of units or their maintenance characteristics. Modelling complex interactions between...

Agent-Based Modeling and Simulation (ABMS) represents a powerful approach for analyzing and modeling modern social and economic systems as they can be naturally conceived as composed of autonomous, goal-driven and interacting entities (agents) organized into societies. However, although several tools for ABMS are available, there are few methodologies and related processes which are able to cov...

The emergency department (ED) serves as a primary patient entry point into hospitals, and bottlenecks in the ED cause patient flow problems and increase costs throughout the entire hospital. EDs increasingly employ discrete event simulation as an analytical decision making tool to alleviate these problems. Simulation models quantify complicated emergency care delivery systems and help improve e...

This thesis presents a novel set of guidelines to convert between simulation modelling approaches, namely, Ordinary Differential Equations (ODEs), System Dynamics (SD) and Agent-based Modelling and Simulation (ABMS). In our literature review we identify a gap in establishing translation techniques between these approaches. We therefore focus our research in developing these techniques and asses...

BACKGROUND In the attempt to reduce waiting times in emergency departments, various national health services have used benchmarking and the optimisation of patient flows. The aim of this study was to examine staff attitudes and experience of providing emergency care following the introduction of a 4 hour wait target, focusing on clinical, organisational and spatial issues. METHODS A qualitati...

Researchers across a range of disciplines have for some time attempted to understand the behaviour of complex systems using simulation techniques. Operations researchers, for example, have long-standing interests in flows of traffic in cities and the movement of materials through factories and supply chains. Such simulation techniques employ Intelligent Agents – computer systems capable of auto...

Results Nineteen of twenty (95%) departments responded. Three departments were excluded due to incomplete data. All departments (n=16) received unselected critically ill patients, patients in cardiac arrest and trauma patients. In 16 (100%) departments there were a designated team that responded to cardiac arrest and trauma patients. Only 5 (31%) departments had access to a designated medical e...

The aim of this study is to present a linked simulation–optimisation model to estimate the groundwater recharge rates, their associated zone structures, and hydraulic conductivity values for regional, steady-state groundwater flow models. For the zone structure estimation problem the fuzzy c-means clustering (FCM) method was used. The association of zone structures with the spatial distribution...

We consider the control of patient flow through physicians in emergency departments (EDs). The physicians must choose between catering to patients right after triage, who are yet to be checked, and those that are in-process (IP), who are occasionally returning to be checked. Physician capacity is thus modeled as a queueing system with multi-class customers, where some of the classes face deadli...

The use of 2D and 3D Simulation tools to analyse and improve material flow, logistic and production processes is nowadays commonly accepted standard practice for many companies. This article focuses on further extending the application area by introducing simulation processes to the shop floor and re-using available models for production order scheduling, line monitoring and cost optimisation. ...