I believe this has been an important year for
the discrete event simulation world.
With our nation's economy in a questionable state, the need to refine
our business processes and throughput improvement is ever more important. In this sense the throughput
improvement of throughput improvement is essential. Technology and tools have improved our capability to provide
our customers with faster and higher quality results. While doing so, everyone realizes the need to do even more
analysis and in areas where analysis was not as easy to attack in the
past. It's great fun to do
everything possible within the constraints of a down turned business atmosphere
providing a ray of hope to management that we can "do more with
less." I believe new
opportunities available for the use of discrete event simulation are
tremendous. It is important for an
association like MSUG to help develop the power of our individual capabilities
and still provide the competitive separateness that all companies desire. We can all continue to grow and develop
individually through our sharing and cooperation in MSUG and still provide the
opportunity for our individual companies to prevail. That sounds like a win-win to me! Bottom line:
Keep up the association with your like business associates through using
MSUG general meetings, the MSUG web site and, of course, our annual one-day
conference. This year's November 8th
conference is coming together nicely, promising a good mix of presentations,
panel discussions, and vendor displays.
A great economical way to learn from one another to further enhance your
own opportunities! Keep an eye on
your Emails and check the web site (www.M-SUG.org)
for conference details. Bring a
simulation friend! I look forward
to seeing you there.
Randy Combs, President
The 7th Annual MSUG Full Day
Conference will be held on Thursday, November 8, 2001 from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm
at the Management Education Center in Troy, Michigan. The theme of this year's conference is "Beyond Modeling
– the Other 70%".
We are pleased to have Lou Keller as the keynote
speaker for the conference. He is
the Chief Operating Officer for Indy Interactive, Incorporated in Orem,
Utah. The title of his talk will
be "Simulation: Methods and Madness!" Lou has spoken at numerous simulation conferences over the
years and each time is different.
If you have not had the pleasure of hearing Lou speak in the past, I can
assure you that it is always enjoyable and informative.
Please see the registration form (included in
the ".zip" file of this newsletter) for all registration information.
This year we have five openings to fill on
the MSUG Steering Committee. This
is your opportunity to get involved and help direct the organization. Four of the openings are for the full
three-year term and one opening is for a one-year term due to an individual's
being unable to complete the full term.
You can nominate yourself and/or others. It is a fun group to get involved in and the time commitment
is minimal. Contact Joe Hugan (jhugan@forwardvision.com or 734-462-3110)
if you are interested.
Elections take place at the Full Day
Conference on Thursday November 8, 2001.
It is best if the nominees are present at the conference for the
elections.
We still have room for a couple more speakers
if you are interested. We would
welcome talks on "The Other 70%". If you would consider speaking and are unsure of the topic,
we can assist you in brainstorming a topic. Please contact Dan Cook (cook@ckgp.com
or 810-491-5707) if you are interested in speaking.
Cindy Schiess, Annual Conference Chair
Your Editor welcomes readers' comments as fuel for a "Letters to the Editor" column!
On May 16th, MSUG held its general membership
meeting in Grand Rapids at the corporate headquarters of Rapistan Systems, who served as the sponsor
for this meeting. Approximately 18
attendees enjoyed two excellent presentations. The first presentation was given by Professor Azim Houshyar from
Western Michigan University’s Department of
Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering. Professor Houshyar gave a fascinating discussion on his use
of simulation in determining operating strategy and timing requirements for
maintenance activities at nuclear power facilities. The maintenance work that Azim simulated is very complicated
(numerous subtasks), expensive (millions of dollars in cost), and
time-consuming (requiring months and sometimes years). Simulation was used to explore
different alternatives for performing the work and to measure the cost and time
required for the different strategies.
Based on the results from Azim’s simulation work, the Idaho Falls, Idaho
facility that Azim was working with was able to make a more educated and
intelligent strategy selection.
They were also able to more accurately determine the cost and timing for
that strategy and were then able to receive additional funding from Congress to
complete their work. Several other
nuclear facilities are now looking to utilize at least portions of Azim’s large
simulation model.
The schedule for remaining meetings during 2001 is
summarized in the table below:
|
|
Date |
Time |
Location |
|
Steering Committee Meeting |
17-Sep-01 |
12:00-2:00 |
CSI1 |
|
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 Vision2 |
1Detailed directions available from Kathleen Handyside, (248) 588-8670
2Detailed directions available from Joe Hugan, (734) 462-3110
|
Att |
Abs |
Name |
Position |
E-mail |
|
X |
|
Randy
Combs |
President |
randy.combs@gm.com |
|
X |
|
Dan Doss |
Treasurer |
dan.doss@brooks.com |
|
X |
|
Wendy Machak (For Onur Ülgen) |
Membership |
wendy@pmcorp.com |
|
X |
|
Ed Williams |
Newsletter / Website |
ewillia4@ford.com |
|
X |
|
HaiPing Xu |
Facilities |
haiping.xu@yahoo.com |
|
X |
|
Dan Cook |
Speakers |
|
|
X |
|
Eric Haan |
West Michigan |
eric_r_haan@email.whirlpool.com |
|
X |
|
Joe Hugan |
General Membership Program Chair |
jhugan@forwardvision.com |
|
X |
|
Cindy Schiess |
Annual Conference Chair |
cschiess@dsi-solutions.com |
|
X |
|
Mike Smith |
Publicity |
msmith@lanner.com |
|
X |
|
Jon Booth |
Secretary |
jbooth@dsi-solutions.com |
Meeting called to
Order, 11:00am, by Randy Combs
Committee / Officer
Reports
Secretary, Jon Booth
Review notes from last meeting on June 14, 2001 due to lack of meeting minutes.
All Committee Members shall get an electronic version of the MSUG Committee Members Responsibility List.
The MSUG Committee Members Responsibility List will be finalized during the next MSUG Committee Meeting. All Committee Members shall review prior to the meeting.
Dan Doss gave the MSUG treasury report. No major expenditures since the previous Committee Meeting. Dan passed around a printed version of the Treasury Summary.
Membership, Wendy Machak (for Onur Ülgen)
No Membership Report
was given. Due to Susan Khoubyari’s departure
from PMC, Onur Ülgen will be taking over the Membership Chair’s
responsibilities. Due to Onur
Ülgen’s absence, Wendy Machak was filling in for him for this meeting. Thanks Wendy.
MSUG Annual Conference 2001,
Cindy Schiess
Attendee Fee:
Keep the charge the same as last year due to economy
$50.00 for pre-registration, before October 5, 2001.
$75.00 after October 5, 2001, or at the door.
$20.00 of the Conference cost is for one year of MSUG membership.
No credit cards. Checks and cash are OK.
Vendor Fee:
Vendor Cost includes admittance for one person.
$150.00 for pre-registration, before October 5, 2001.
$200.00 after October 5, 2001, or at the door.
$20.00 of the Conference cost is for one year of MSUG membership.
Mike Smith will be doing
the MSUG Conference Flyer with Registration Forms.
A sample flyer
should be ready for review during the week of August 20th.
Registration Forms
and Fees for Conference attendees and vendors shall be returned to Wendy/Onur
at PMC.
Mike Smith will create
three email announcements for promoting the MSUG Annual Conference.
Email announcing the
MSUG Annual Conference (Sent ASAP)
Email reminding
everyone to send their registration fees to avoid the late fee. (Sent three
weeks before October 5th)
Email a final notice
to remind everyone that the MSUG Annual Conference is only three weeks away.
Mike Smith will
attempt a press release announcing the MSUG Conference.
Dan Cook (Phil
Stevens) and Randy Combs are in charge of creating the signs for the
conference. The signs shall be
non-dated so they can be reused every year.
Dan Cook is
coordinating the speakers, and reviewing the presentations, for the MSUG
conference.
Five Speakers
needed, plus Keynote Speaker
Each presentation
shall be 30 to 45 minutes in length, including questions and answers.
The five main topics
for the MSUG Annual Conference are as follows.
Set Simulation Goals
Data Collection
Validate and Verify
the Model
Documentation and
Presenting the Results
Experimentation
The current
scheduled Keynote Address Speaker is Lou Keller
The current
potential speakers for the MSUG Annual Conference are as follows.
Laird Wilson –
General Motors Topic
Dan Cook –
Presenting a Customer and Scope of work Topic written by Randy and Wendy.
Other possible
conference speakers include.
Joe Hugan to ask a
person from General Dynamics.
Ed Williams to ask a
professor from University of Michigan - Dearborn
HaiPing Xu stated
that the facility for the MSUG Annual Conference is ready.
Projectors are OK.
Laser Pointers are
OK.
Food is OK. Menu shall be reviewed during the next
Steering Committee meeting.
Wendy shall create
the conference nametags.
Cindy gave Wendy
some blank tags.
Dan Doss has the
plastic covers for the nametags.
Randy Combs stated that
everyone should take a turn at the registration desk during the Annual
Conference. At least two should be
there, three are preferred early during the beginning of the conference.
Joe Hugan will be
coordinating Steering Committee Nominations and Elections.
Each position has a
three-year term maximum for two terms maximum.
11 Steering
Committee positions total.
Five positions are
open. Four for three-year terms
and one for one year term.
Nominees thus far
are Onur Ülgen, Dan Doss, and
Jon Booth.
The positions within
the Steering Committee are re-assigned at the first Steering Committee Meeting
following the Annual Conference.
Randy Combs will be
coordinating the Panel Discussion for the conference.
Topic will be
"The other 70% of simulation."
Newsletter / Website, Ed Williams
Ed Williams reported that the next newsletter is due at the end of this month.
MSUG Steering Committee Nominations will be included in the newsletter.
MSUG Annual Conference information will be included in the newsletter.
Cindy Schiess asked if we (The MSUG Steering Committee) could update the MSUG Website without relying on the outside service. Ed will investigate.
Randy Combs stated that all email correspondence should use “bcc” (Blind Carbon Copy) feature to keep the MSUG member’s email address anonymous.
Onur Ülgen will be filling in for Susan Khoubyari for the remainder of the year.
Meeting was closed at 1:00pm
Next Committee Meeting is scheduled for September 17, 2001 at CSI. Start time to be announced.
If there are any corrections required to the items presented in these meeting minutes, please contact the writer.
Respectfully submitted,
Jon Booth, MSUG Secretary
Design Systems, Inc.
248-489-4300 x2265
248-489-4321 FAX
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.
Your General Membership Programs chair on the MSUG steering committee eagerly and urgently invites presentation submissions for the general membership meetings on November 8th, 2001. Please send one-paragraph summaries to Joe Hugan (contact information at left).
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).
Westin River North,
Chicago
$99 to WITNESS users
without maintenance
Be one of the first
10 people to commit to doing a presentation and win a FREE PRIZE. Email Virginia at vsamuel@lanner.com.
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
Edward Williams, 313-592-2374.