College of Engineering and Technology

Programme Title : BEng (Hons) Engineering Management

Module Title: System Simulation and Project Management

Assignment Title: System Simulation

Overall Weighting for Assignment 1: 50%

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Introduction

In recent years, computer simulation has become a mainstream decision support tool
in manufacturing industry. Leading manufacturing companies around the world
recognise computer simulation as a leading edge technology for the 21 st century and
it is rapidly becoming a mainstream business tool in many industrial sectors including
automotive and aerospace.

The aim of this coursework is to provide the basic principles of computer simulation
and its applications within the manufacturing industry. The coursework assignment
would require students to submit discrete event simulation model(s) using SIMIO
software.

On successful completion of the assignment, the student should be able to:-

 Build and use simulation models in the design and management of

manufacturing systems and critically evaluate the performance of a
manufacturing system using experimental data and recommend possible
improvements.

The brief
Discrete event simulation has been considered as one of the most flexible analytical
tools in the manufacturing system design and operation areas. It is aggressively used
to handle uncertainty and create dynamic views of lead time and machine utilization
etc. This enables quantification of results, and provides a possibility to compare the
expected performance relative to that of the present one.

Your task
To support on-going modernisation efforts, a manufacturing organisation has
appointed you as an Operations Manager with a specific remit to restructure and
streamline some of its process and to implement lean principles and tools. You are
passionate about simulation and you are keen to demonstrate that simulation can be
used to support these initiatives. You are expected to build and demonstrate a
sample simulation model to support initiatives. The manufacturing system can be
derived from your workplace or other personal experience (real or hypothetical
system). However, your model should include at least five workstations, 2 workers,
and few entity types (parts) with different routings, buffer capacities, a transporter or
a conveyor (or both) and an assembly operation.

(1) Develop a dynamic simulation model to demonstrate your initial production

system using SIMIO and conduct experiments. You are also expected to use
relevant animation, interactive graphs/charts and suitable experiments methods
(e.g. Experiment Responses/ Response Results, warm-up and replication etc )
(30 Marks)

(2) You are expected to identify a particular area(s) for improvement of your first
model and recommend some improvements and conduct experiments using
revised or improved simulation model to test your recommendations.
(40 Marks)
Submission
1. A CD/USB containing your SIMIO Simulation model(s).
2. A Report (1,500 ± 10% words) (30 Marks)

Prepare a report to discuss your findings. You are encouraged to use

appropriate Graphs to support your discussion. The report should contain at
least followings.

− Any assumptions made for the simulation model building

− Performance of the cell.
− Rationale behind your experiments
− How did you improve the performance of the system?
− Printouts of your simulation models

Report requirements: The report should be written to the appropriate

academic/technical standards. The work should be effectively communicated to
specialist and non-specialist audiences.

This is an individual assignment

Reading Materials
Refer to module handbook and tutorial sessions

Submission Requirements
The assignment will need to be approximately 1,500 words in length and submitted
electronic form.

In addition to the report, you will need to submit a CD/USB with SIMIO Simulation
model files.
an equitable and unbiased manner, thereby ensuring the maintenance of high
academic quality standards within the marking of the assessments.

Understanding and Managing Coursework Assessment Checklist

This brief checklist is designed to help you avoid some of the common mistakes
which can lose you marks on your coursework. After you have completed your
coursework assignment, then check through your work and ‘tick off’ each point once
you are sure you have fully addressed that aspect.

YOU NEED TO THEN SUBMIT THE COMPLETED CHECK LIST WITH YOUR
COURSEWORK.

Have you utilised the assessment brief to ensure you have correctly
addressed the coursework grading criteria?
Have you check your content is correct and up-to-date, preferably through
use of at least one peer-reviewed reference (not Wikipedia!)?
Have you cited the reference(s) you have used in the correct format?
Have you used a colour scheme which is easy to read?
Have you got a good balance between the amount of text and the number of
pictures/figures/tables/diagrams?
Have you labeled all figures/tables and diagrams?
Have you included an introduction and conclusion?
Have you used a Table of Contents and glossary of terms?
Have you used an appropriate front sheet?
Have you proof read your work and checked your spellings and punctuation?
Marking scale

Class
% mark Mark Descriptors

70-100% Excellent
Outstanding; high to very high standard; a high level of critical analysis and
evaluation, incisive original thinking; commendable originality; exceptionally

First
well researched; high quality presentation; exceptional clarity of ideas;
excellent coherence and logic. Trivial or very minor errors.

Very good

Second Div 1
60-69%
A very good standard; a very good level of critical analysis and evaluation;
significant originality; well researched; a very good standard of presentation;
pleasing clarity of ideas; thoughtful and effective presentation; very good
sense of coherence and logic; minor errors only.

Good
50-59%

Second Div 2
A good standard; a fairly good level of critical analysis and evaluation; some
evidence of original thinking or originality; quite well researched; a good
standard of presentation; ideas generally clear and coherent, some evidence
of misunderstandings; some deficiencies in presentation.

Satisfactory
40-49%
A sound standard of work; a fair level of critical analysis and evaluation; little
evidence of original thinking or originality; adequately researched; a sound

Third
standard of presentation; ideas fairly clear and coherent, some significant
misunderstandings and errors; some weakness in style or presentation but
satisfactory overall.

35-39% Unsatisfactory

Marginal Fail
Overall marginally unsatisfactory; some sound aspects but some of the
following weaknesses are evident; inadequate critical analysis and
evaluation; little evidence of originality; not well researched; standard of
presentation unacceptable; ideas unclear and incoherent; some significant
errors and misunderstandings. Marginal fail.
1-34% Very poor
Well below the pass standard; a poor critical analysis and evaluation; no
evidence of originality; poorly researched; standard of presentation totally
unacceptable; ideas confused and incoherent, some serious
misunderstandings and errors. A clear fail well short of the pass standard. At
the bottom of the range the work demonstrates nothing of merit.