Lesson 4

Question 1

What is SC network dynamic and design about?

Answer 1

Supply Chain Network Dynamics and Design involves analyzing and improving the structure of a supply chain. A supply chain includes suppliers, plants, distribution centers, and customers. The goal is to figure out the best way to set up and organize these elements to ensure everything runs smoothly and efficiently.

Question 2

What is the main objecitve in SC design?

Answer 2

In supply chain design, the main objective is to maximize profits while also working to minimize costs. This means ensuring that the products reach the customers at the lowest possible expense without sacrificing quality or efficiency.

Question 3

What types of decision making are there?

Answer 3

Single objective decision making and multi objective decision making

Question 4

What is single objective decision making (SODM)?

Answer 4

If you’re only focusing on one thing, like cost or profit, you are making a single objective decision.

Question 5

What is multi objective decision making (MODM)?

Answer 5

If you have more than one goal to optimize, such as both cost and quality, this is called multi-objective decision-making.

Question 6

What types of decision criteria are there?

Answer 6

• Attributes (Indexes): If you’re making a decision based on different factors (like price, speed, quality), this is called Multi-Attribute Decision Making (MADM).

Objectives: If you’re optimizing for more than one objective (like cost and profit), this is Multi-Objective Decision Making (MODM).

Question 7

What is a decision variable?

Answer 7

A decision variable is something that can be changed in order to improve outcomes, like maximizing profit or minimizing costs. For example, deciding how much product to order or which suppliers to use are decision variables.

Question 8

What is an objective function?

Answer 8

The objective function is the formula used to find the optimum value for the decision variable. This helps in achieving the goal (either maximizing profit or minimizing cost).

Question 9

What is a parameter?

Answer 9

• Parameters can be either fixed or have a range of values. For example, the cost of raw materials might be fixed, but the amount of product a factory can produce could vary.
• Variables can take on many different values, and we want to find the best value for our goal (like the most cost-effective way to transport goods).

Question 10

What are the 3 main methods of simulation?

Answer 10

• Agent-based simulation (ABS)
• System Dynamics
• Discrete-Event Simulation (DES)

Question 11

What is Agent-based simulation (ABS)?

Answer 11

In agent-based simulation, the focus is on individual parts of the system, called agents, and how they behave and interact with each other.

Agents are individual parts: Each agent can represent something different

These agents are separate from each other but can communicate and work together.

Here we can use softwares such as Anlylogic, Netlogo, Unity Engine and Swarm

ABS focuses on the behavior of individual parts (agents) and how they interact.

Question 12

What is System Dynamics?

Answer 12

System dynamics is a mathematical approach used to understand how complex systems work over time. It helps make better decisions by showing the long-term behavior of systems.

Here we can use softwares such as VenSim, PowerSim, ithink, Anylogic

System Dynamics looks at the big picture of a system and how feedback over time affects decision-making.

Question 13

What is Discrete-Event Simulation (DES)?

Answer 13

Discrete-event simulation is a way of modeling how a system works by focusing on important events that happen at specific points in time.

Used to answer key questions: DES is often used to explore problems like:
- How long does it take for something to happen? (latency)
- How much of a resource is being used at any time? (utilization)
- Where are the slowdowns in the system? (bottlenecks)

Here we can use softwares such as AnyLogic, Arena, Witness, Simio, Flexim, Extendism, Promodel.

DES is about key events happening at specific times.

Question 14

What is the mindset concept?

Answer 14

Mindset plays a critical role in decision-making. It shapes how we perceive the world and make decisions.

Question 15

What is the difference between systematic and unsystematic thinking?

Answer 15

Systematic
* Dynamic
* Holistic perspective
* Introverted
* Structuring-oriented
* Non-linear
* Attention to flow and accumulation of flow
* Attention to delay in achieving results

Unsystematic
* Static
* Microscopic
* Extroverted
* Blame-seeking
* Linear
* Focus on flow
* Focus on immediate results

Question 16

What is AnyLogic?

Answer 16

AnyLogic is a powerful simulation software used for modeling complex systems across multiple domains like supply chain management, manufacturing, transportation, healthcare, and more. It stands out because it supports three different types of simulation methods: DES, ABM, and SD. AnyLogic combines these methods, allowing users to build hybrid models, which are crucial for simulating real-world systems that include both continuous processes and individual events or behaviors.

Question 17

What is the source block?

Answer 17

This block is used to introduce and generates entities (e.g. customers, products, or orders) at a certain rate or based on entity

Question 18

What is the queue block?

Answer 18

If the system is busy (e.g. production line or service counter), the newly generated entities are placed in the queue to wait for their turn to be processed

Question 19

What is the delay block?

Answer 19

Once the entity reaches the front of the queue and resources are available, it moves to the delay block where it undergoes the actual process, which takes a certain amount of time

Question 20

What is the sink block?

Answer 20

After the delay, the entity is removed from the system, which is represented by the sink block. This indicates the completion of the process

Question 21

What is Exponential Distribution?

Answer 21

The Exponential distribution describes the time between events in a Poisson process. It is often used for modeling things like time between customer arrivals, time to failure of equipment, or the time to complete a task in systems where events occur randomly but at a constant average rate.

Question 22

What is Poisson Distribution?

Answer 22

The Poisson distribution is commonly used to model random arrival processes where events occur independently, and the focus is on the number of occurrences in a fixed period of time. For instance, if customers are arriving at a store randomly, but on average 5 customers come every hour, a Poisson process could model this.

Question 23

What is Deterministic Case?

Answer 23

A deterministic case is a model where every event, process, or output is predictable and happens exactly as specified. There is no randomness or variability involved. Given the same initial conditions and parameters, the model will always produce the same results every time it is run.

Question 24

What is Stochastic Case?

Answer 24

A stochastic case introduces randomness and variability into the model. In these models, inputs such as event timings, process durations, and system states are represented by probability distributions rather than fixed values.