Development of an adaptive sawmill- flow simulator template for predicting results of changes at small- log sawmills.

Managing or designing sawmills can be an extremely difficult and sawmill managers and designers face a multitude of decisions each day with regard to management of sawmill operations and productivity. Sawmill managers therefore must be skilled enough at balancing the variables that determine sawmill production including: raw materials, personnel, equipment, product mix, product quality, orders and money in order to make profits. Changing any of these variables in one part of the mill can have unforeseen and sometimes detrimental impact upon other parts of the mill. Extreme heterogeneity in raw materials adds significantly to the complexity of sawmill systems. Simulation is one of the most common methods for constructing models that include random behaviour of a large number and a wide variety of components in sawmilling such as reduced availability of large-diameter logs with increased wood demands which may result into smaller-diameter logs entering sawmills. The design and operation of a modern small-log sawmill requires skills different from those needed in a large-log sawmill. Because the log size is small and lumber production per log is low, production must be high. Profitable sawing of small diameter logs requires high speed processing, use of curve sawing, and careful loggeometry and orientation considerations before sawing. Although numerous simulation studies have investigated sawing process of largediameter logs, only a limited number of simulators have addressed processing of smalldiameter logs. Further, these latter simulators concentrated on improving either the lumber volume yield or the lumber grade/value from logs. The modeling of entire sawmill operations has been far less extensive. The sawmill-flow simulator template (SFST) and a simulation template end–user interface designed on Excel spreadsheets in this study is a unique modeling package that can be used to predict results of changes in production at a small-log sawmills. The SFST encompasses log–sawing and sawmill-flow logics designed to facilitate flexibility in modeling different sawmill configurations and production scenarios. These may include predicting the impact on sawmill performance measures due to changes in mill layout, raw material and product pecifications, sawing solutions, and queue sizes which can greatly help the saw miller to make ellinformed decisions. Keywords: Sawmill flow simulator – modular approach – discrete event simulationTanzania Journal of Forestry and Nature Conservation Vol. 77 2008: pp. 73-9

Automation in the simulation of processes with Aspen HYSYS: An academic approach

Aspen HYSYS is a typical tool used in some Master in Chemical Engineering courses at the University of Castilla-La Mancha like “Analysis and Optimization of Chemical Processes” and “Dynamic of Process: Regulation of Chemical Plants.” Automation is the process of linking commercial software to third-parties applications built in EXCEL-Visual Basic for Applications. The capability of automation as a powerful tool for simulating unprecedented complex processes suggests that it could be a relevant background complement to the classical one offered by a university. In this sense, a seminar about automation based on the study of two cases: a refrigeration process and a production one taken from literature, has been proposed at the University of Castilla-La Mancha. The analysis of the survey performed for the subject evaluation resulted to be very positive. Students consider the methodology of the course and the potentiality of automation for developing their research and professional skills appropriately. However, more examples are required to better understand the automation concept and its potential application to other situations. Finally, they declare that the concept of automation requires a lot of expertise and deep knowledge of programming and the correct application of numerical methods for solving complex problem

A Fuzzy Logic Approach in Modeling and Simulation of a Scheduling System for Hospital Admissions Using ARENA® simulation software

The aim of this project is to develop a simulation model of a scheduling system based on practical situation implemented on ARENA® simulation software. Besides, this project also seeks to incorporate Fuzzy Logic Control in decision making processes. This project mainly focuses to develop a model of a scheduling system for admission of hospital Emergency Department (ED) using ARENA® simulation software

Optimization of Process Flowsheets through Metaheuristic Techniques

This book presents a multi-objective optimization framework for optimizing chemical processes. The proposed framework implements a link between process simulators and metaheuristic techniques. The proposed approach is general, and there can be used any process simulator and any metaheuristic technique. This book shows how to implement links between different process simulators such as Aspen Plus®, HYSYS®, SuperPro Designer®, and others, linked to metaheuristic techniques implemented in Matlab®, Excel®, C++, or other programs. This way, the proposed framework allows optimizing any process flowsheet implemented in the process simulator and using the metaheuristic technique, and this way the numerical complications through the optimization process can be eliminated. Furthermore, the proposed framework allows using the thermodynamic, design, and constitutive equations implemented in the process simulator to implement any process

Review of BIM-Based Software in Architectural Design: Graphisoft Archicad VS Autodesk Revit

Revolution Industry 4.0 delivers impact on world development AEC (architect, engineering, and construction), especially in the development of useful digital technology for acceleration development infrastructure namely BIM ( Building Information Modeling ). BIM uses 3D software to support all potential and productivity in designing building construction. This article aims to review the advantages and limitations of the software Graphisoft Archicad and Autodesk Revit, especially in the field of BIM. the method used in writing an article is a review paper with a review of six journals and three expert opinions. The results of the review show that the Archicad software dominates the criteria for the field of work and 3D display. Temporary software Revit dominates in the field of work criteria in terms of the number of owned features because integrated by the developers of the Autodesk program. Archicad software is more compatible for users who want to have a more concise and easy-to-understand interface, while Revit software is more compatible for users with more complex project scales. Both of these software support parametric design. In Archicad and Revit Rhinoceros-grasshopper software can be used for Live Connection, but Archicad also has Param-O parametric object library and Revit has Dynamo for visual programming of parameter modeling. This shows that users should know more about their needs before choosing to use one of this BIM software

Validation of a DICE Simulation Against a Discrete Event Simulation Implemented Entirely in Code.

BACKGROUND: Modeling is an essential tool for health technology assessment, and various techniques for conceptualizing and implementing such models have been described. Recently, a new method has been proposed-the discretely integrated condition event or DICE simulation-that enables frequently employed approaches to be specified using a common, simple structure that can be entirely contained and executed within widely available spreadsheet software. To assess if a DICE simulation provides equivalent results to an existing discrete event simulation, a comparison was undertaken. METHODS: A model of osteoporosis and its management programmed entirely in Visual Basic for Applications and made public by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Decision Support Unit was downloaded and used to guide construction of its DICE version in Microsoft Excel(®). The DICE model was then run using the same inputs and settings, and the results were compared. RESULTS: The DICE version produced results that are nearly identical to the original ones, with differences that would not affect the decision direction of the incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (<1% discrepancy), despite the stochastic nature of the models. LIMITATION: The main limitation of the simple DICE version is its slow execution speed. CONCLUSIONS: DICE simulation did not alter the results and, thus, should provide a valid way to design and implement decision-analytic models without requiring specialized software or custom programming. Additional efforts need to be made to speed up execution

Achieving flexibility in courseware design

Am Ende der 90er Jahre war E-Learning ein Begriff, mit dem große Hoffnungen im Hinblick auf die Verbesserung des Lernens verbunden waren. Diese Verbesserung hatte mehrere Anhaltspunkte. Einer ging davon aus, dass die Entwicklung und das Management des Lehrmaterials einfacher und vor allem günstiger werden. Ein anderer war die Ansicht, dass eine breitere Akzeptanz geschaffen wird, in dem Sinne, dass eine individuelle, auf die besonderen Bedürfnisse des Verbrauchers angepasste Ausbildungslösung präsentiert wird. Und schließlich bestand die Hoffnung, dass mehr Selbstorganisation in dem Lernprozess zur Realität wird, und sich somit auch die gesamten allgemeinen Ausbildungskosten minimieren lassen. Alle diese Absichten wurden in der angegebenen Zeit bei weitem nicht verwirklicht. Die Zeit für die Realisierung dieses grundlegenden Projektes wurde stark erweitert, da der Mangel an Verständnis für die Probleme der Teilnehmer zu groß war. Ein Problem war die Tatsache, dass qualitativ hochwertige Kursmaterialen nicht einfach zu erstellen sind und, wenn sie einmal erstellt sind, nicht einfach zu verwalten sind. Während der anhaltenden IT-technologischen Rennen ist es für die Lehrkräfte zunehmend schwierig geworden, ihre Lehrmaterialien up-to-date zu halten. Es war höchste Zeit ein Werkzeug zu präsentieren, das nicht nur für die Erstellung von Lernmaterialien, sondern auch für deren Verwaltung geeignet ist. Ein solches Instrument ist eduWEAVER, ein Bildungsmaterialen Design Tool. Das Ziel der Diplomarbeit war es, eine mögliche Lösung der vorher besprochenen Probleme in Form einer Plug-In-Anwendung für eduWEAVER zu präsentieren. Diese sollte die Transformation der bestehenden Lehrmaterialien (meist Microsoft® Office Dateien und vor allem PowerPoint® Präsentationen) in hoch qualitative e-Learning Materialien mit einem Minimum an manueller Arbeit verwirklichen.At the end of the 90's E-Learning was a term with which large hopes were connected, regarding the improvement of learning. This improvement referred to several criteria. First one assumed the creation and management of the learning components will be simpler and above all more economical. Furthermore one believed that the entrance possibilities would be simplified, also in the sense that an individualized, based on the particular needs of the learning consumer’s courseware would be issued. And finally the hope that more self organization in the learning process will become reality, which of the other side would cut the overall learning expenses. All these intention did not find their full realization in the given period. The time line for this fundamental project was largely extended because of the lack of understanding the problems the participants were to face. One of those problems was the fact that quality courseware was not simple to create and when once created not simple to be managed. Because of the IT technological race it was difficult for the teaching staff to maintain their learning materials up-to-date. It was high time to build the tool not only for creating learning materials but also tools for their management. One such tool is eduWEAVER, an educational courseware design tool. The aim of the diploma thesis will be to show a possible scenario in form of a plug-in application for the eduWEAVER. It should enable the easy transaction of existing class teaching materials (mostly Microsoft® Office files and particularly PowerPoint® presentations) into quality e-Learning materials with a minimum of manual work

Container arrivals forecasting practice and experience at marine terminals

The advent of the container traffic in maritime transportation has led during its 40-year long history to novel perceptions and operation planning requirements for the port container terminal. A major requirement in this respect refers to the efficiency of the operations in the container transfer between the different modes. The current study presents a methodology on the development of a forecasting tool to access the service demand patterns at a marine terminal on per day basis. A set of forecasting models was introduced and their implementation difficulties were explored. The main effort in this approach was to replicate the distribution of container arrivals/pick-ups before and after the scheduled voyage date of a vessel. A data-driven decision support system was developed to retrieve and to analyze the historic information captured at a major terminal of the U.S. East Coast for a period of 18-months. The evaluation of the current solution revealed a satisfactory fit of the forecasting model projections to the actually observed patterns. Due to the lack of a solid theoretical background, the approach is unfavorable to the use of applied statistical tests. In general the product should be seen as a management information system designed to assist the terminal activity planning and equipment management in conjunction with the coherent experience of the operating team

Development of an autonomous distributed multiagent monitoring system for the automatic classification of end users

The purpose of this study is to investigate the feasibility of constructing a software Multi-Agent based monitoring and classification system and utilizing it to provide an automated and accurate classification for end users developing applications in the spreadsheet domain. Resulting in, is the creation of the Multi-Agent Classification System (MACS). The Microsoft‘s .NET Windows Service based agents were utilized to develop the Monitoring Agents of MACS. These agents function autonomously to provide continuous and periodic monitoring of spreadsheet workbooks by content. .NET Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) Services technology was used together with the Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) approach for the distribution of the agents over the World Wide Web in order to satisfy the monitoring and classification of the multiple developer aspect. The Prometheus agent oriented design methodology and its accompanying Prometheus Design Tool (PDT) was employed for specifying and designing the agents of MACS, and Visual Studio.NET 2008 for creating the agency using visual C# programming language. MACS was evaluated against classification criteria from the literature with the support of using real-time data collected from a target group of excel spreadsheet developers over a network. The Monitoring Agents were configured to execute automatically, without any user intervention as windows service processes in the .NET web server application of the system. These distributed agents listen to and read the contents of excel spreadsheets development activities in terms of file and author properties, function and formulas used, and Visual Basic for Application (VBA) macro code constructs. Data gathered by the Monitoring Agents from various resources over a period of time was collected and filtered by a Database Updater Agent residing in the .NET client application of the system. This agent then transfers and stores the data in Oracle server database via Oracle stored procedures for further processing that leads to the classification of the end user developers. Oracle data mining classification algorithms: Naive Bayes, Adaptive Naive Bayes, Decision Trees, and Support Vector Machine were utilized to analyse the results from the data gathering process in order to automate the classification of excel spreadsheet developers. The accuracy of the predictions achieved by the models was compared. The results of the comparison showed that Naive Bayes classifier achieved the best results with accuracy of 0.978. Therefore, the MACS can be utilized to provide a Multi-Agent based automated classification solution to spreadsheet developers with a high degree of accuracy