Integration of discrete event simulation models with framework-based business applications

Simulation models and business application software as they are used for decision support in enterprise management are both representations of an enterprise's actual operations. We describe a unified simulation and application framework where it is possible to represent the entire performance process along a supply chain in a unified business model, improve its performance with discrete event simulation technology, and then generate and implement the corresponding business application software from the same unified model, based on a so-called framework-based application technology which allows implementation of changes derived from simulation analysis with minimal effort and time. This enables a company to optimise not only operational processes such as shopfloor or warehouse operations but also business processes such as planning, order management and scheduling through simulation.