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Difference Between Modeling and Simulation

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Difference Between Modeling and Simulation

The ultimate goal of any supply chain is to fulfill demand, drive customer value, improve responsiveness, enable financial success, and build a good network. This goal will help organizations to develop brand loyalty and maintain recognition in the competitive market. Customer satisfaction encompasses various factors like a perfect product, on-time delivery, friendly service, and effective problem resolution. To achieve this, organizations need to implement the right supply chain model that is robust and fit for purpose. Modeling and simulation provide an important method of analysis that is easily verified, communicated, and understood. Supply chain modeling provides businesses with the tools they need to manage their supply lines to control inventory, reduce costs, and meet customer demand. Simulation allows one to model any existing supply chain or a proposed new supply chain and see how it works. It shows how different designs will operate, and what their costs and performance levels will be. Operations and supply chain management courses help to understand the different modeling and analytical tools to respond to the rising challenges faced in the supply chain.

Difference between Modeling and Simulation

A model is a representation of a physical object or process. The model may be physical or mathematical and closely replicates the object or process with its all or subset of properties. An optimization model (mathematical model) is something different from a physical or 3D model as a mathematical model describes a system with equations. It may be used to determine answers to questions such as which is the best business decision to make given a particular set of circumstances. Modeling can reduce the cost of a process and make the progress faster. For example, when building a car, one can create a few models of it and find the best solution in lieu of building the actual cars, thus saving time and money.

Supply chain managers may use optimization modeling for supply chain network design to determine the best mix of vendors, locations, logistics, and production for optimal supply. Such an approach replicates the supply chain, then populates the model with organisational and other data, using solver software to determine better-informed business decisions with great speed and deliver a competitive advantage for the business.

Simulation is a technique of studying and analyzing the behavior of a real-world or an imaginary system by mimicking it on a computer application. A simulation works on a mathematical model that describes the system. Through the application of different conditions, it is possible to discover and understand how a real-life system will reciprocate to the change in the set conditions. Simulation is used to gain insight into how the system performs under different scenarios.

A supply chain simulation has multiple elements, including analyzing the product mix, evaluating different scenarios, and answering what-if questions related to strategy.

For example, production is started when orders deplete inventory below a threshold.

A simulation is changing one or more variables of a model and observing the resulting changes.

Although a model always tries to represent the actual system, a simulation may try to observe the results by doing impossible (in the real world) changes. A model can be considered static and a simulation can be considered as dynamic as the variables of a simulation get always changed.

The key difference between modeling and simulation is that modeling provides a definite recommendation for action in a specific situation taking into account key variables, constraints, and trade-offs to determine an optimal solution that is feasible and achieves certain objectives. While simulation allows users to determine how a system responds to different inputs so as to better understand how a system would work. A diploma in logistics and supply chain management will help professionals to be aware of the emerging trends in the supply chain management domain.

How to use Modeling and Simulation together?

The application of modeling and simulation to supply chain management systems is growing rapidly. The differences between optimization modeling and simulation can come in handy at times. The success of an organization’s supply chain simulation depends on many factors the development of a realistic model, access to structured and unstructured data, advanced analytics, and software that can determine the outcome of different scenarios. While optimization modeling will recommend specific strategies, simulation can be used for optimizing scenario planning and help answer what-if questions.

One can use simulation to broadly understand how a system works before using optimization modeling to determine specific answers. For example, an organization may use simulation modeling to determine whether there is a need for an additional distribution center and optimization modeling to determine its optimal location and size. Supply chain management courses help professionals get acquainted with the theoretical models of SCM and their applications in real-life scenarios.

The benefits of creating a model and populating the same with the organization’s data are many. It helps to discover the interaction between different parts of the organization and how they can be utilized to improve overall profitability. With the ability to factor in constraints and to pose multiple what-if scenarios, it is possible to anticipate and mitigate the effects of uncontrollable events and to determine the most profitable operational strategies. For example, for sourcing products, one can perform scenario analysis. For supply chain planners when sourcing products there are many parameters to check upon like supplier location, price, delivery cost, shipping, tariffs, risk, continuity of supply, and quality. Using a predictive analytics-based scenario analysis many alternatives that offer the lowest risk, maximum profit, and the best supplier to the organization can be decided upon.

Know More: https://executive.timespro.com/course/operations-and-supply-chain/iim-tiruchirappalli-post-graduate-certificate-programme-in-supply-chain-management/

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