A business process modeling approach to support production systems analysis and simulation

In this paper we propose a reference model conceived to simplify the development of production simulation paradigms as well as to support software houses in formalizing the main functions and properties of manufacturing systems simulation software. The proposed model results from a research project aiming to the design of a new manufacturing systems simulation tool, embedding the main production and logistics processes archetypes. Indeed, the designed tool natively entrenches several well-known production and inventory control policies on top of the greatest part of the typical processes and work methods in a manufacturing plant; the model is formally represented in Business Process Modelling Notation, which increase its clearness and the related benefits for industrial users. The proposed reference model architecture and working logic has been validated on a manufacturing company case study.