Winter Simulation Conference 2011

Winter is here again and so is Wintersim 2011. As the worlds premier international simulation conference, Wintersim 2011 will provide a forum for the world’s leading simulation exhibitors.

As one of the leading providers of operations research and simulation services in North America, Visual8 is proud to be be among the exhibitors for Wintersim 2011. We will be co-hosting with our simulation partners SIMUL8 on Tuesday, December 13th. Come find us in booths 31 and 32 to see the innovative ways we are applying simulation modeling for our clients and discuss how you may implement simulation in your organization.

As the leading simulation conference; Wintersim 2011 will feature an exciting and fully comprehensive program consisting of simulation tutorials, technology demonstrations, OR industry exhibitors, as well as presentations of simulation research and development. This year Wintersim 2011 will also include the Modeling and Analysis for Semiconductor Manufacturing (MASM) simulation conference. As the leading simulation conference for the semiconductor manufacturing industry there is sure to be something to interest every simulation and operations research professional.

Wintersim 2011 Exhibitors

This years winter simulation conference will feature exhibits from the industries most influential researchers and developers:

• Visual8 Corporation
• SIMUL8 Corporation
• SAGE
• SAS
• Applied Materials

Just to name a few, for the full listing view the Wintersim 2011 exhibitors list.

Here at Visual8 we are proud to work closely with the University of Toronto and were very excited to sponsor of the very first Indy Club SIMUL8 simulation competition. Operations research students from the University of Toronto’s Indy Club established a new annual SIMUL8 simulation competition, the first of which was held last Saturday (Nov 26th) at the school of industrial engineering and operations research.

More than 30 University of Toronto operations research students took part in the SIMUL8 simulation competition in the hope of taking home one of two cash prizes, as well as an opportunity to show off some ninja like simulation skills.

As a leading operations research company and experts in the application on SIMUL8 simulation software, Visual8 modeling experts were asked to design a set of simulation challenges for University of Toronto operations research students to complete. After three hours of intense development and “Simul8ting”, Visual8 reviewed the results and selected the two champions of the very first University of Toronto Indy Club SIMUL8 Simulation Competition. Although there could only be two cash prize winners, it’s safe to say that all 30 operations research students who partook in the Indy Club SIMUL8 simulation competition walked away with a greater understanding of how SIMUL8 simulation software can be applied by industries in today’s competitive global market.

Thanks go out to:

• Alberto Picard-Ami, Kazem Kutob and Felipe Richards from the Indy Club for initiating and organizing the entire affair
• Kieran Concannon from Visual8 for supporting and sponsoring the Competition
• Matthew Concannon from Visual8 for polishing/presenting the case, judging the competition and selecting the winners
• Sarina Turner and Brendan Eagen, the MIE360 TAs, for getting the students hooked on simulation in the first place
• Mahsa Shateri, also an MIE360 TA, for checking the case was fair and appropriate for a 3-hr competition

Simulation Modeling with SIMUL8, by K.Concannon, M.Elder, K.Hindle, J.Tremble, and S.Tse

Download Free SIMUL8 Textbook

As the leading SIMUL8 experts in North America, Visual8 corporation has decided to celebrate the launch of it’s new website by providing a FREE copy of the indispensable SIMUL8 textbook “Simulation Modeling with SIMUL8″.

Written by Visual8 founder and CEO, this indispensable guide to simulation as a decision-making tool was written by members of Visual8′s staff, expert users of SIMUL8 with a broad background of consulting and training experience; and Mark Elder, the founder and president of SIMUL8.

Overview

Whether the reader is an engineer, manager, analyst, or student, simulation users and developers alike will find value in the book. It provides a practical introduction to the power and utility of simulation technology. Simulation Modeling with SIMUL8 is useful for learning about the theory behind simulation, its uses within various industries, and a guide to SIMUL8.

Simulation

The Simulation Section provides an overview of computer simulation modeling and some of the issues that relate to it in general, without citing a specific software package.

Business Applications

In the Business Applications Section, numerous case examples show how simulation can be applied in a variety of ways to address a diverse set of business issues from traditional manufacturing to business processes in the service industry.

SIMUL8 Reference

The SIMUL8 Reference Section shows how to create the simulation models using SIMUL8 software along with the features within the package that enable the developer to produce powerful decision-making tools.

SIMUL8 Corporation took a step towards expanding its position in the Canadian healthcare market today by signing a partnership agreement with Visual8 Corporation to become a distributor of SIMUL8’s Scenario Generator software in Canada.

Scenario Generator is a user-friendly visual simulation software system that enables healthcare, social services and other public sector agencies and private sector organizations to explore real life scenarios in a risk free environment. Using statistically accurate results, users can select options for change based on conclusive evidence of what benefits their organization the most. Scenario Generator software is embedded with up-to-date population and disease prevalence data, enabling users to gain actual insight and appreciation of the risks, impact and benefits of existing and future options for change which support strategic and operational decision-making. Using Scenario Generator enables testing of many different scenarios generating the data necessary to support evidence-based decision making.

From cost savings to improvements in patient care, the software is currently used by health and human service systems worldwide. Visual8 will be the first external distributor of Scenario Generator. Dr Eileen Pepler, a world leading scholar and consultant on health and social service sector reform particularly with respect to patient centered and social service delivery systems, will be working with Visual8, using her experience with Scenario Generator to promote its benefits in the Canadian market. “With over a decade of collaboration between our companies, Visual8 is an obvious choice to provide Scenario Generator training and solutions to Canada, and with Dr. Pepler’s knowledge and expertise, they are offering a powerful solution,” says SIMUL8 Lead for Healthcare, Claire Cordeaux. “The timing couldn’t be better with the release of Scenario Generator 4.0 this month.”

In the new release, Scenario Generator includes for the first time clinical and service pathways, pre-populated with health and social care prevalence data, and health and human services cost data. The new software release includes features to allow for the evaluation, through sophisticated simulation techniques, of the impact of demand on services and resources, and the effect of changes to service configuration. The software is designed to allow services to easily and securely share data across public sector agencies who participate in the delivery of services leading to joined-up data for measuring outcomes.

The Canadian healthcare market is in urgent need of new tools that can help address the complex issues around service delivery and identify improvements on a number of levels—national, provincial and regional. Scenario Generator provides health and social care professionals with a powerful decision-making tool to assess where and how our healthcare dollars can be better spent by aligning resources to meet demand aimed at improving access, reducing waiting times and managing budgetary constraints

- Kieran Concannon, Visual8 CEO