This demo model shows the type of material handling logic that would be found in Bombay sorter system. This tiered conveyor system has products lined up in rows, then drop onto the next conveyor below while staying as a row. More a proof of concept than a fully-featured sample model, FlexSim users can use this as a springboard for more complex horizontal loop conveyor systems. A Bombay sorter (also known as a flat sorter) is a horizontal loop-style sorter. It's used for high-speed automated sortation of small, lightweight items, such as pharmaceuticals, books, and other small parcels. The chutes or cartons are located below the sorter, and when the product is in position, the doors swing open like a trap door to divert the product to the correct location. Bombay-sorter-demo.fsm

Attached is an example simulation of a rail hump yard. Trains in this hump yard are processed in three stages: Arrival - A train engine delivers an arriving train into the arrival area of the yard and then leaves Classification - The shunt engine takes trains from the arrival area to the hump. From there the train is uncoupled into sets of cars for classification, and each set of cars 'falls' to its designated departure train and couples to it. Departure - Once a train has been composed, it is transferred to the departure area, where it waits a random time until departure. I've tried to keep the logic as simple as possible so you can understand the process flow. I've implemented no traffic control between train engines/shunt engine, so they will occasionally run over each other. However, I have used AGV routing constraints to dynamically block off sections of track that are filled by trains, so the engines will move around them. HumpYardSample.fsm

I created this custom visual tool because I had a situation where we needed to see the progress of activites in the 3D View. I basically just change the size of a plane based on the completion level and calculate a percentage. Model is attached and contains some explanations. Enjoy, Custom visual tool.fsm

Last year a teacher asked me how to simulate public bus transportation, so I created a small sample model of a bus line in Nantes (France). Although all input and output data in the model are labeled in French, I thought that it could be nice to share it here with the worldwide community as 3D visualization is a universal language. Here is the model updated for FlexSim 2023: public_bus_23_0.fsm To set the travel times between the bus stops, and the stop times, I used the bus timetable that was available online in this document: Depliant-L-95-Web-2e.pdf You can check in the simulation if your bus arrives on time: Among the parameters, you can set how many buses are available at each terminus at the beginning. Be careful, if you don't have enough buses, you will not be able to stick to the timetable ! The road is built with network nodes. A checkbox allows you to show/hide the map. A listbox allows you to switch between the 3 network view modes (all details shown / edges only / hide all network).

When presenting and/or demonstrating a FlexSim model, it is often useful to have the model running in a loop that uses a flypath for a motion path. That way, you can more easily talk to the model while it runs, or leave it running unattended on repeat. The model below provides the code and settings needed to do that. In order to add this capability to your model, you will need to add a few things: A user event called EndTime. This setting will affect how long the model runs before resetting and running again. The First Event Time setting is where you can enter the number of seconds before this happens. The Event Code setting is where you can add custom code from the attached example model, found in the "event" tab. Model trigger code within OnRunStart and OnRunStop. This code can be found in the attached example model. A global variable called demo_mode. This can be set to 1 to enable the demo mode functionality, or set to 0 to disable it. Running the model with demo mode disabled is the same as how the model normally functions. Thanks to @Phil BoBo for helping to develop a solution for this. Also, the model requires FlexSim 23.2 or newer to work properly. presentation_demo_mode.fsm

Note: these demo models have been designed for the French-speaking FlexSim user community (all explanations and statistics shown in dashboards are labeled in French). However as 3D animation is a universal language, feel free to download these models whatever language you speak. Manutention de marchandises / Material handling download link: https://redirect.flexsim.fr/download_demomanutention niveau: ★☆☆ Ce modèle donne une vue d'ensemble sur les ressources disponibles dans la librairie FlexSim pour transporter des produits: AGV, opérateur, cariste, ascenseur, robot 6 axes, pont roulant, transtockeur. This model gives an overview of available resources in the FlexSim library to transport products: AGV, operator, forklift, elevator, 6-axis robot, crane, ASRS. Triage sur convoyeur / Conveyor sorting system download link: https://redirect.flexsim.fr/download_demotriage niveau: ★★☆ Dans ce modèle, des colis arrivent sur un carrousel et sont triés sur un des 6 convoyeurs de sortie en fonction de leur référence de commande. Si la cellule photoélectrique du convoyeur de sortie est saturée, les colis font un tour de carrousel supplémentaire. In this model, packages arrive on a carousel and are sorted on one of the 6 exit conveyors, according to their order reference. If the exit conveyor's photocell is saturated, packages make an additional carousel lap. AGV - Automated Guided Vehicle download link: https://redirect.flexsim.fr/download_demoagv niveau: ★★★ Ce modèle illustre une application des capacités de simulation d'AGV de FlexSim. Des caisses y circulent entre divers modules via des AGVs. This model demonstrates a subset of FlexSim's AGV simulation capabilities. Loads are transported by AGVs between several modules. Workshop download link: https://redirect.flexsim.fr/download_demoworkshop niveau: ★★★ Ce modèle présente une approche possible pour simuler des gammes de fabrication. Une gamme est assignée à chaque produit entrant dans le modèle. Le produit traverse ensuite chaque étape de sa gamme. This model presents a possible approach for data-driven product routing. Each product moves through a series of processing steps defined in a table. Clinique / Clinic download link: https://redirect.flexsim.fr/download_democlinique niveau: ★☆☆ Ce modèle est un exemple de parcours patient dans une clinique: enregistrement, triage par une infirmière, examen par un médecin, soins (ECG, radio ou IRM) et enfin présentation du diagnostic au patient avant raccompagnement vers la sortie. This model is an example of patient flow in a clinic: sign in, triage by a nurse, consult with a doctor, treatment (EKG, X-ray or MRI) and finally patient education before escorting him to the exit.

Every now and then, there are technical support questions that are asked more than once by different users. This article seeks to address a couple of “how to” questions that have come up over time. As such, this isn’t a massively technical paper just a quick look at a few things that might make your modeling experience more fun and your models a little more interesting. Background: This is a physical screening clinic similar in nature to those you might encounter either in the military or in a hospital that supports a large industrial area where employee physicals are required either by insurance companies or an employer. That said, it could even be a part of a much larger function like an ER. In a nutshell, patients that represent a mixed population of both men and women, are sent to the clinic without an appointment and arrive according to an exponential distribution. In the model, the mix of men and women is 50-50 although it can be altered to accommodate any distribution of patients. Once a patient registers, he/she is either directed to a gender-specific changing room where they change into a white surgical gown, or take a seat in the waiting room until a changing room is available. Once changed, each patient is escorted to an exam room by one of two nurse practitioners, is examined for a time period that is also gender-specific (men – normal(20,5,1), women – normal(17,3,1)), and is eventually released to return to a changing room and finally to leave the clinic. Any time there is no changing room available, patients take a seat in the waiting room. The clinic opens at 0800 hrs and closes at either 1600 hrs or after 1600 hrs when the last patient departs. Open and run the model, “changing-rooms-model-11-16-2016.fsm” to see the model in operation. Modeling challenges: The challenges are straight-forward and not at all complex. Specifically, they address the following questions: How do you stop patient arrivals (e.g. in-flow) at a certain time of day and then close the clinic when the last patient departs? How do you make sure that patients go to their own gender-specific changing rooms? How do you change a patient’s shirt color to white representing a patient gown and then back to their original color when they change back into their street clothes? How do you use a patient label to determine treatment time if a distribution is contained in the label? Flow Chart: Before we dissect the model, it’s probably not a bad idea to take a close look at the flowchart if only because, despite the model’s size, it can seem a little complex. Notice that the changing rooms really are the central point in the model. As such, connecting lines have to be constructed that link the Registration Area (0ne way), the waiting room (two way), the exam area (two way) and the Patient exit (one way) with each of the Changing rooms. Setting the Stage: Because the purpose of this model is to make provisions for and track both male and female activities, it uses two different PCIs (Patient classification Index numbers) to represent Men (PCI1) and Women (PCI2). Those PCIs and any related labels that may generally carry information about patients that might be used for decision making later, are initially entered in the Track Manager, under the tab labeled, "Patient Classification” as shown to the right. Note that, in this case, there are fields for identifying which Track a specific PCI will follow, what each PCI’s Acuity will be, which Gender different PCI’s will represent, which distributions represent each PCI’s Exam Time in the model, and a direct reference to which changing room a patient should use. Needless to say, each of the three types of fields – text, number and code – are accessible from various elements of the model and may be used to determine and isolate almost any patient characteristic a modeler might use to define patient Activities. One other “setting the stage” aspect of the model that deserves mention is the positioning of the nurses. Note that the two nurses aren’t arrayed in a single line, the default positioning of resources in a model, but rather are positioned as if they're having a conversation. Although somewhat inconsequential when a resource staff is small, large collections of staff members cry out for better, more life-like poses. To change a resource’s initial location in a model relative to its home base - in other words, it’s “Offset” – first make sure the model is in “3D View” by clicking on View>Model View (3D) in the main menu. Then, simply click on the individual resource and drag it to the place you’d like it to stand as its initial position. Note that the X Offset, Y Offset and Rot Offset values that are unique to each member of a resource group, will automatically be changed to the new coordinates. Finally, note that by clicking and holding down your left mouse button over any of the Offset positioning arrows (circled in red above), and then moving your mouse forward and back, you can also manually reposition any specific resource. Arrival Pattern : Open the Properties window for the Patient Arrivals Object to follow this discussion . The Patient Arrival pattern is simple to construct, involving nothing more than identifying the correct exponential distribution (i.e. exponential(0,20,1)) in the Patient Arrivals Properties’ Interarrival Time field as shown at the left. Notice also that the Patient Classification Index (PCI) field contains an expression to calculate and therefore generate two different PCIs. As mentioned previously, PCI 1’s are classified as men and PCI 2’s as women. In this case P(50.00, 1, 50.00, 2) insures that a mix of 50% men and 50% women will be generated by the Patient Arrivals Object during the model run. Setting Certain Patient and Model Characteristics : The purpose of the Patient Arrivals object isn’t only to create a unique pattern of patient arrivals but also to serve as the source of every patient’s initial characteristics as well as set certain actions that affect the performance of the model as a whole. In this case, changes to the patient’s appearance and the stopping time for patient arrivals are both determined in two different Patient Arrivals’ Property Triggers as shown at the right. Note that the “On Creation” Trigger is used to identify any actions the modeler might want to activate that occur when a patient is created for entry into the model. As shown, picklist option can be used in the On Creation Trigger to change any number of model parameters In this model, only that referring to the patient’s shirt color is changed. In this case, there are three entries to select from … (1) the fact that the patient’s shirt color should be changed, (2) which color palette should be used to obtain the desired color (Palette2), and (3) which color (by index number) should be used. Note that the color index number is determined by the patient’s PCI of either 1 or 2. Different palettes unique to the software can be viewed by selecting, “Edit > Color Palettes,” from the software’s main menu. Note that new palettes and/or colors may be added to the color palette editor by selecting the appropriate functional options (ie. Add/Delete Palette, More/Less colors). In this case, Male patients will wear green shirts and female patients will wear yellow. Note that the “OnExit” Trigger is used to identify any actions the modeler might want to occur when a patient exits the Patient Arrival object. In this case, the picklist option, “Stop or Resume Flow” is selected to act as a brake for patient arrivals after a specified elapsed time. Although there are seven different drop down options to select from regarding the condition desired to stop patients from entering the model, the option “time()>960” is selected to stop arrivals at 1600 hrs (4 p.m.). Note that “960” represents the elapsed time in minutes since midnight (time 00:00) of the first day of the model run. Many first time modelers make the mistake of assuming that the time value represents the elapsed time since the model’s beginning time, in this case 8 a.m., which isn’t the case. In any event, this picklist option examines the time of every patient’s departure from the Patient Arrivals object and the first patient created at or after 1600 hrs, automatically stops any additional patients from being created. Closing the Clinic’s Doors and stopping the model . Open the Properties window for the Patient Exit object to follow this discussion. Clearly there are two actions that are required to close the clinic at or after 4 p.m. when the last patient departs. The first is to close the front door which is accomplished by the “OnExit” Trigger found in the Patient Arrivals object as discussed in paragraph 5B above. The second is accomplished in the Patient Exit object’s “OnEntry” Trigger as shown at the right. In this case, the drop down picklist option, “Stop Model Based on Condition,” is selected and used to establish two criteria for the model’s end. The first criteria is that the elapsed time be later than 4 p.m. and the second is that there be no patients in the clinic when 4 p.m. arrives. The correct entry for the picklist option then, is shown at the left and takes both circumstances into account. What it determines every time a patient leaves the clinic is, what time it is and if anyone remains to complete treatment at that time. If the time is even a second past 4 p.m. and the clinic census is zero, the expression stops the model. So far, we’ve accomplished several tasks that include, (1) setting the patient’s shirt color, (2) establishing a criterion for closing the clinic door at 4 p.m. and stopping clinic operations at or after 4 p.m. when the last patient leaves, and (3) positioning resources at various places in the model rather than in a single straight line. Now, we need to change the patient’s shirt color to white – symbolizing changing into an examination gown – and back to its original color when the exam is over, and determine the patient’s Exam Time. It’s a simple process that we’ll cover in Activities 40, 60 and 80. Activity 10_Arrival: This activity causes the patient to walk unescorted from the Patient Arrival Object to the Registration Area. Although there’s nothing complex or unfamiliar about the activity, it’s important to note that even though this activity has no predecessors, a check mark is still required in the Predecessors box to cause the model to begin this activity without a command from some other activity. Activity 20_Registration : This activity causes the patient to use someone from the ClerkGroup at the Registration desk for normal(2,1,1) minutes to log in. Activity 30_TravelToChange1:This activity causes the patient to walk unescorted to one of the two changing rooms based on the patient’s sex. As such, which of the changing rooms is determined by the entry in the Patient Destination field, in this case, from the drop down picklist option, “Based on a Condition,” and by the edited drop down option, “getlabelnum(patient, "Gender") == 1 as shown to the right. Note that there are actually 12 different, “Choose a Condition” options the modeler can employ to set the patient’s destination. Activity 40_Change1 : This activity causes the patient to take normal(3,1,1) minutes to change into an examination gown and changes the patient’s shirt color from either green or yellow to white representing that change. The expression that causes the color change is contained in the Advanced Function, “Activity Finished Trigger.” In this case, the drop down picklist option, “Set Color” is selected to change a patient’s shirt to white as shown to the right. White is the color whose index number is 15 in the color palette 3. Activity 50_TvlToExam: This activity causes the patient to be escorted by a member of the NurseGroup from the changing room to the first available Exam room. Activity 60_Exam : This activity causes the patient to spend a period of time specified in the Processing Time field being examined by the same nurse that escorted them to the Exam room. Note that the exam time is entered by selecting the drop down picklist option, “Based on Patient’s Label,” and then by selecting the Patient Label, “ExamTime,“ that was previously set in the Patient Classification Index (PCI) Table. See Paragraph 3 above. Activity 70_TvlToChange2 : This activity causes the patient to walk unescorted to one of the two specifically named changing rooms. As such, which of the changing rooms is determined by the entry in the Patient Destination field, in this case, from the drop down picklist option, “Based on a Condition,” and by the edited drop down option, “getlabelnum(patient, "Gender") == 1 as shown to the right. See paragraph 7C for the same logic initially entering a changing room. Activity 80_Change2 : This activity causes the patient to take normal(3,1,1) minutes to change out of their examination gown and back into their street clothes by changing the patient’s shirt color from white back to their original color. The expression that causes the color change is contained in the Advanced Function, “Activity Finished Trigger.” In this case, the drop down picklist option, “Set Color” is again selected to change a patient’s shirt to its original color using the patient’s PCI number. Note that this is the same way the shirt color was assigned initially. See paragraph 5A Activity 90_Departure: This activity causes the patient to walk unescorted to the clinic exit and leave the model. Special Notes regarding the Changing Room model . As simple as the model may seem, it serves to reinforce several modeling techniques that we sometimes overlook. For example, … All activities are assigned unique Milestone names. In this case, TvlToChange1 and TvlToChange2 are identical in every respect. However, Change1 and Change 2 aren’t. To combine the four different activities into two identical activities would change the Patient Timeline widget in the Dashboard so that a patient’s time spent waiting for a nurse following the first Change would be combined as a single display element. This might make it difficult to glean specific information from the Timeline regarding total time changing and waiting for resources. The use of floor displays and walls to enhance a model’s appearance is highly encouraged. To design effective and realistic models, practice using the Infrastructure tools to create underlying floors and the Library tool, “Visual Objects,” to create enclosures.

This article explores creating Fluid Tanks from a Basic FR and Process Flow. This turned out to be a lot more complicated than I thought. If you need fluid objects in FlexSim, use the standard fluid objects in the library or buy FloWorks. The approach in this article requires a lot of up-front work just to get started, and you probably want to spend that time configuring well-tested objects instead of cutting your own path. This article is directed at two audiences: Those who don't want to use the fluid library or FloWorks (they have elected the way of pain) Those who like learning from example models If you are still interested, read on! TankDemo_10.fsm Kinetic Tracked Variables Tracked Variables hold a number. As you change the value, the Tracked Variable tracks the min, max, average, etc. You can optionally track the history of the value over time (this history) or the amount of time spent at specific values (the profile). You can also listen to when a Tracked Variable changes. A special kind of Tracked Variable is a Kinetic Tracked Variable (KTV). A KTV lets you set a rate. The rate is the ratio of the change in value divided by the change in model time units. If you set a rate, the KTV records when you set the rate and the initial value. In this way, you can as a KTV for its value at any point and get the exact continuous value. KTVs are the heart of this model. You can use a KTV as a label value. Each tank has a label called "Level" that is a KTV that holds the level of the tank. They are also used to represent the progress of a transfer of fluid between tanks. Custom Draw The fluid tanks you see in the model are BasicFR objects. The shape of the object is set to a cylinder. The color of the object determines the color of the fluid. To draw the changing fluid level, the OnDraw trigger of the tanks use the Level label to determine the height of the fluid. Then the OnDraw trigger draws a cylinder covering the remainder of the tank. Because the draw code accesses the Level label's value, the cylinder will change as the value of the Level label changes. Tank: An Object Process Flow Most of the logic in this model is defined in an Object Process Flow called Tank. I used an Object Process Flow so that it would be easy to attach other objects to the flow to imbue them with fluid tank logic. In a way, it's like defining a programming class. When you attach an object, you create an instance of that class. The Tank flow defines behavior for a general fluid tank: A Tank can have fluid transferred in, out, or both A transfer indicates a source tank and a destination tank, and amount, and a rate. If the source tank is null, then the fluid is generated in the tank. If the destination tank is null, fluid is consumed in the tank. A tank can have as many active transfers as the user adds to it. There's not an accompanying concept of "pipes" in this setup. Each transfer changes the rate of the Level KTV for each tank. If the tank gets full, input transfers are paused until the the tank empties below a threshold (95% of its capacity). If the tank gets empty, output transfers are paused until the tank fills above a threshold (5% of its capacity). If the tank is stopped, both input and output transfers are paused until the tank is resumed. The Model Logic The model logic is contained in the process flow called Process Flow. It picks a random recipe from the Recipes table and uses that to create transfers into the Mixer tank. Once those transfers are complete, the Mixer tank empties itself. When it's completely empty, the tank produces an item. Then that process repeats. By using an Object Process Flow, the logic for "how to tanks work in general" is separated from "what are the tanks doing." Pros and Cons The main con is that you would need to implement this logic yourself rather than starting with an object. This includes finding and fixing bugs. I have found and fixed many bugs in this demo model, but I'm fairly confident there are more. It turns out creating an object is tricky. However, there are a few pros: Compared to the fluid library, there is no ticker. The fluid library relies on a ticker to handle changes in level. This approach uses KTVs instead. KTVs are newer than the fluid library. A ticker adds a frequent event to the model and loops through fluid objects checking for changes. It is possible that the approach in this article is more accurate and faster to run. It's also possible that it's slower, due to the number of process flow activities. Compared to FloWorks, there is no monetary cost. This may actually be a con as time spent developing logic is an expense. This approach will take 10x longer or worse to get right. Your future self will thank you for just buying it. You have full control over the behavior. If you don't like how something works, or you want to add additional logic, the logic is all available for you to edit. Again, this might be a con, because you have to fix bugs as you make them. Conclusion Overall, this demo model shows lots of FlexSim features working together. That is valuable in itself. As a replacement for fluid objects, this demo model isn't a great route, unless you have very specific needs. As I built this model, I realized that I was probably solving the same set of issues that the developers of the fluid library were solving. What I thought was going to be somewhat simple turned out more complicated. I still think this is doable, but I'd look at other options very carefully first.