Conceptual modelling and the project process in real simulation projects: a survey of simulation modellers

Abstract

A survey was used to obtain information on the processes and methods used by simulation experts in real projects. The 102 survey respondents answered questions about their most recent simulation project. This paper presents some of the survey results, focussing mainly on conceptual modelling and the pattern of time allocation to different topics. There are a wide range of findings that include the modellers making changes to the initial conceptual model during subsequent tasks in most of the projects usually by adding complexity, model coding taking on average about twice the time of other topics, and the topics generally occurring in single blocks of time (at the resolution of the survey data collection) but with considerable overlaps. The results give an insight into the way experts approach simulation projects and their problem solving strategies. A potential application is in training novice modellers, particularly in developing ‘craft skills’. The results also provide an empirical basis for further research, especially in conceptual modelling.

Keywords:

• simulation
• practice of OR
• OR education
• conceptual modelling
• modelling process

Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to all the questionnaire respondents for their assistance. Thanks also to the referees for their helpful comments. Some of the text and results in this paper were previously included in two conference papers: Wang and Brooks (2007b, 2008).