Welcome to the first Michigan Simulation User Group newsletter for 2001.
A humble “thank you” to MSUG steering committee for choosing me as President.
Starting this New Year as the President of MSUG is exciting.
The Steering Committee that you, the General Membership, have chosen makes my task a simple one. We have a great team. Everyone is enthusiastic, informed and willing to take on his or her individual role with purpose. I have emphasized that we need to make our organization even more fun and informative than it has already been to many of us. Your steering committee is in full agreement.
Individual assignments have been modified slightly in an attempt to bring more attention to our Website and increase Publicity. Any extra efforts from this group will be pointed in that direction. More links to more people and businesses should help increase our membership; thereby increasing our ability to bring more information (knowledge) and interesting activities to the General Membership.
As our economy appears to be heading for a slowdown the need for throughput analysis can be even more critical to profitability. As practitioners of throughput, MSUG is yet another chance for us to network and learn to improve personal performance. Be sure to take advantage of your opportunities with MSUG!
I look forward to seeing you at General Membership meetings and don’t forget to keep an Internet “bookmark” on http://www.m-sug.org.
Randy Combs, President
The MSUG All Day Conference held on Wednesday
November 1st, 2000 was a great success.
It was attended by 64 simulationists representing two countries (United
States and Canada) and from eight states within the United States. As you might suspect, most of the
attendees were from Michigan, although there was also representation from
Arizona, California, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and
Ontario. Industries represented at
the conference were Furniture, Tooling Suppliers, Material Handling Suppliers,
Automotive, Automotive Tier 1 Suppliers, Engineering Consultants, and Software
Vendors.
The day began with a keynote address from
Khaled Mabrouk of The Model Builders on Enabling Simulation Drivers. This was followed by three talks by
Mark Steury of Visteon Automotive Systems, Joe Hugan of Forward Vision, and
Shreekanth Moorhy of Engineering Animation, Incorporated.
The afternoon was filled with the hit of the
day. Five simulation software
vendors participated in a Vendor Face-Off. Each of the vendors was given the same problem and given one
hour to develop a solution. Each
of the vendors then presented the model and results to the audience. The clear winners of this competition
were the audience. It provided us
a look at five software packages, allowing us to see what each of them could
do. It is thought that this
exercise may be repeated in a few years to again do a comparison.
The day ended with a panel discussion of
software vendors on the topic of "The Future of Simulation".
The feedback for the day was that everyone
enjoyed himself or herself and felt the day was beneficial.
Cindy Schiess, Annual Conference Chair
Your Editor welcomes readers' comments as fuel for a "Letters to the Editor" column!
On August 9th, MSUG held its general membership
meeting in Grand Rapids at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Approximately 25 attendees enjoyed two excellent presentations
on simulation activities taking place on the west side of the state. John Gibbons from Alvey Integrated
Business Solutions in Grand Rapids spoke about a material handling application
of simulation. In this
application, simulation was successfully used to examine different strategies
for moving pallets off a main conveyor line to an off-line palletizer where the
pallets were stretch-wrapped.
Eight different material handling configurations were examined and
simulation was used to determine which configuration would work best. This
application was for a midwest consumer goods manufacturer.
In the second
presentation, Professor Charles Standridge from the Padnos School of Engineering at Grand Valley State University gave an excellent
presentation on his use of simulation in examining logistics/transportation
issues relating to the production of petroleum-based products for a global oil
company. Interesting aspects of
this application included the use of continuous simulation in combination with
discrete-event simulation and the use of no animation for this particular
application. Professor Standridge
also discussed the engineering program at GVSU, which is interesting in that
undergraduate students do not graduate until they complete a TRULY SUCCESSFUL
real-world application of engineering.
Following the presentations, approximately 15 to 20 people enjoyed dinner at Noto’s Restaurant, courtesy of The Lanner Group. Lanner also sponsored the MSUG meeting and covered the cost of the meeting room and the food and beverages for the meeting. MSUG is truly appreciative of this support from Lanner and Mike Smith, their regional sales manager! (It should be reiterated though that MSUG maintains a strictly neutral perspective on simulation vendors and any sponsorship of MSUG events, while greatly appreciated, should not be viewed as a product or vendor endorsement on behalf of MSUG.)
Eric Haan, West Michigan
The schedule for remaining meetings during 2001 is
summarized in the table below:
|
|
Date |
Time |
Location |
|
1st General Membership Meeting |
28-Feb-01 |
4:30-6:30 |
CKGP1 |
|
Steering Committee Meeting |
12-Mar-01 |
12:00-2:00 |
ASI2 |
|
West Michigan General
Membership Meeting |
16-May-01 |
4:30-6:30 |
Grand Rapids3 |
|
Steering Committee Meeting |
11-Jun-01 |
12:00-2:00 |
DSI4 |
|
3rd General
Membership Meeting |
8-Aug-01 |
4:30-6:30 |
GM Phoenix Center, Pontiac5 |
|
Steering Committee Meeting |
13-Aug-01 |
12:00-2:00 |
PMC6 |
|
Steering Committee Meeting |
17-Sep-01 |
12:00-2:00 |
CSI7 |
|
Annual
All-Day Conference |
8-Nov-01 |
8:00-4:00 |
MSU Training Center, Troy |
|
Steering Committee Meeting |
19-Nov-01 |
12:00-2:00 |
Forward Vision8 |
1Detailed directions available from Dan Cook, CKGP, (636) 343-2449
2Detailed directions available from Dan Doss, ASI, (248) 324-3611
3Detailed directions available from Eric Haan, (616) 923-4641
4Detailed directions available from Cindy Schiess, (248) 489-4300
5Detailed directions available from Randy Combs, (248) 874-0253
6Detailed directions available from Susan Khoubyari, 313-441-4460 extension 1171.
7Detailed directions available from HaiPing Xu, (248) 588-8670
8Detailed directions available from Joe Hugan, (734) 462-3110
The first
MSUG steering committee meeting for 2001 was held on January 8, at the Lanner
office.
Status
reports were given by the members in attendance.
This
year's primary focus from the committee will be around promoting MSUG by
enhancing our website and improving Public Relation activities.
Ed
Williams is our Webmaster and is off to a great start with several initiatives
to enhance the access to and quality of our website. Mike Smith is our PR guy with plans for getting our name in
more communiqués and publications about MSUG.
The
committee decided to entertain a New MSUG Logo contest. Details to follow. The winner will get a free membership
for 2002 and free admission to our annual Conference this fall.
Randy
Combs, President
As mentioned in our steering committee meeting minutes, the
steering committee voted to allow sponsorship of MSUG general membership
meetings. Honorable mention will be made to sponsors for their support to MSUG.
No "sales pitches" will be permitted for that privilege.
Anyone interested in sponsoring our general meetings should contact our Facilities Chairperson (HaiPing Xu, contact information at left) or other steering committee member for further details.
Dan Cook, Speakers
The MSUG Web site is under construction and we are adding a new area for simulation service providers. We will have the name of the company and a link to their web site. If you are a simulation service provider who would like to be added to our web site, or know of one, please initiate arrangements through Edward Williams, Newsletter/Website, ewillia4@ford.com.
This year's November 1, 2000 MSUG Conference hosted a "Face-off" event for vendors of discrete-event simulation software. All software participants (ARENA, AutoMod, ProModel, SIMUL8, Taylor ED, WITNESS) were provided the same modeling challenge to see who could respond the quickest with the most comprehensive answer to a challenging modeling specification involving the vehicle maintenance garage of a hypothetical city. The event challenged all levels of discrete-event simulation (fast and detailed). As Ed Williams, the face-off emcee, said, "The winner is the audience, which has been exposed to a variety of modeling techniques and insights."
Randy Combs, President
Your General Membership Programs chair on the MSUG steering committee eagerly and urgently invites presentation submissions for the general membership meetings on November 8, 2001. Please send one-paragraph summaries to Joe Hugan (contact information at left).
Members, recall the rave review the IIE Simulation Solutions Conference of 2000 received from Khaled Mabrouk in the October 2000 Newsletter. Now the 3rd annual "SimSol" conference approaches. It will be held at the Westin Westminster Hotel in Denver, Colorado March 19-21, 2001, with Pre-Conference workshops the preceding Sunday, March 18th. The workshop titles are "Introduction to Simulation" by W. David Kelton, University of Cincinnati; "Supply Chain Management" by George Gates, Transentric Shipment Management Consulting Services; "Simulation + Optimization: How it Works" by Royce Bowden, Mississippi State University; and "Statistics and Distribution Functions: The Essential Mathematics of Simulation Modeling" by Roger Klungle, Ford Motor Company. The conference, chaired by Andre Bergevin of Canada Post, comprises seven tracks: Simulation Skills, Manufacturing, Healthcare, Transportation and Distribution, Supply Chain & Material Handling, Services & Business Processes – and a vendor exhibit area besides!
MSUG is well represented, since Dan Cook is Track Coordinator of the Manufacturing track and Ed Williams is Track Coordinator of the Infomercial Track.
Edward Williams, Senior Technical Specialist, Ford Motor Company
Attendance at the 2000 Winter Simulation Conference, held in Orlando, Florida, December 10-13, 2000, was an exciting, instructive experience. The conference comprised special Sunday afternoon tutorials, a Ph.D. colloquium, a poster session, fourteen concurrent tracks (I was a two-time session chair within the Manufacturing Applications track), an exhibit hall, and vendor-user meetings Tuesday evening. Attendance was high -- well over 700. I left cold, sunny Detroit December 9 and returned to a car well-nigh buried under the snowstorms of December 11 and 13 – a sharp contrast to the warm weather in Orlando.
The 2001 Winter Simulation Conference will be held in Arlington, Virginia at the Crystal Gateway Marriott; December 9-12, 2000. More information is available at their web site (actual web address http://www.wintersim.org).
Edward Williams, Senior Technical Specialist, Ford Motor Company
September 27 & 28, 2001
Westin River North, Chicago
FREE to WITNESS users on maintenance
$99 to WITNESS users without maintenance
The WSUA 2001
Conference is sure to be one of the most profound events in the annals of
simulation history, an epic of absolutely monolithic proportions! We’re going to be right in the heart of
downtown Chicago, close to all the action — the shops, the museums, the
restaurants, the nightlife, and all those strange, whirling lights. So mark your calendar on September 27
and 28 and join us for the ultimate 2001 trip! We’ll leave the pod bay doors open for you.
Explore Chicago!
The WSUA 2001 Conference will be held at the Westin River North in the heart of Chicago. It’s just a few blocks away from some of the best stores, restaurants and museums in the world! We’ve scheduled the conference on a Thursday and Friday so that it’s easy to plan a weekend stay! And the dates for WSUA 2001 also coincide with the World Music Festival in Grant Park!
Help us keep WSUA operating smoothly.
Nominate new people to take over the WSUA Committee... before it’s too late! Call Jerry LoCasale at 954-723-6046 or email epor03@email.mot.com.
We’re hunting for presenters.
Be one of the first 10 people to commit to doing a presentation and win a FREE PRIZE. Email Virginia at vsamuel@lanner.com.
To sign up for WSUA 2001 or to get more information, call Virginia Samuel at 713.532.8008 or email vsamuel@lanner.com.
All are welcome to visit the users site at www.witnessusers.org.
Pete Tiernan, Lanner Group Incorporated
Karl V. Groth, Senior Project Engineer
CKGP & Associates, a division of RDS
31333 Southfield Road
Beverly Hills, Michigan 48025-5440
Telephone 248-642-7970; fax 248-642-1303 or 248-642-8927
Web site http://www.ckgp.com
RDS web site http://www.rapid.com
Email groth@ckgp.com
Cindy Schiess
38799 West 12 Mile Road, Suite 200
Farmington Hills, MI 48331
Email cschiess@dsi-solutions.com
Web site http://www.dsi-simulation.com
Fax: 248-489-4321
Susan Khoubyari
Production Modeling Corporation
3 Parklane Boulevard, Suite 1006W
Dearborn, Michigan 48126
Email susan@pmcorp.com
Fax 313-441-6098
Web site http://www.pmcorp.com
Edward Williams, 313-592-2374.