Redesigning a Testbed of Simulation-Optimization Problems and Solvers for Experimental Comparisons

We describe major improvements to the testing capabilities of SimOpt, a library of simulation-optimization problems and solvers. Foremost among these improvements is a transition to GitHub that makes SimOpt easier to use and maintain. We also design two new wrapper functions that facilitate empirical comparisons of solvers. The wrapper functions make extensive use of common random numbers (CRN) both within and across solvers for various purposes; e.g., identifying random initial solutions and running simulation replications. We examine some of the intricacies of using CRN to compare simulation-optimization solvers.