What’s New in ServiceModel 2011 SP2?

·         Resource Shift Carryover extended to Use statement – this powerful capability, introduced in SP1 release, has been expanded to include resources captured with a USE statement. It enables you to carryover work started by a resource on one shift and continue it with another unit on the next shift. For example, hospitals operating 24 hours a day can transfer patient care from one shift to the next.

·         Output report views and results copied with new model – when saving an existing model as a different name, if that model also has saved Output Viewer report views, you will be prompted and given the choice to copy the saved report views and any results files with the new model name.

·         Charts linked in Output Viewer report views – charts are now automatically linked together if they exist in the same report tab. This means that when you add or remove a scenario from one chart, all other charts will have that scenario added or removed as well. Other Filter Options can also be linked and, if desired, charts can be unlinked so that changes only apply to the selected chart.

·         Output Viewer Items sorted in original model order – Filter Options now show all elements in the Items list in the order they appear in the model tables. This is now the default Item sort, however, the list can also be sorted alphabetically.

·         Scenario differences highlighted – in the Scenario Manager, you can visually identify which parameter values are different than the baseline values. Any differences are changed to a blue color and given a bold emphasis.

·         Use Google SketchUp 3D graphics with 3D Animator! – Google SketchUp has thousands of free 3D graphics. We’ve created a plug-in for SketchUp that will allow you to properly export its graphics to 3D Animator.

·         Move a chart and create a new Report – if you want to move an existing chart into its own new Report tab, simply drag the chart up to the plus “+” tab and drop it there. A new Report tab will automatically be created with your chart in the view.

·         External Arrival and Entity-Location files now support the .xlsm and .xlsb Excel file formats.

·         After installing a 3D Animator package file, you are now prompted to load the setup file.

·         Output Viewer and 3D Animator now have context-sensitive online help.

What's New in ServiceModel 2011

With ServiceModel 2011 you are able to easily model multi-shift facilities using the new resource shift carryover capability, quickly compare parameters and manage your scenarios in the redesigned scenario manager, and gain more insight into your model results with the new Output Viewer time series charts.

Resource Shift Carryover
This powerful new capability allows you to carryover work started by a resource on one shift and continue it with another unit of that resource on the next. For example, manufacturing facilities that have extended task times or complex processes spanning multiple shifts or days can easily pass work from the first to the second shift. Hospitals operating 24 hours a day can transfer patient care from one shift to the next. Shift carryover works whether it's one resource or multiple resources performing a task. Each resource will independently be interrupted to go off shift and allow resources on the next shift to resume the work. Shift carryover currently works for resources captured by a Get, Jointly Get, and Move With statement.

New .NET Scenario Manager
The new scenario manager makes adding, modifying, and managing your scenarios a snap. The open interface displays all of your scenarios and their parameter values in one simple table. Each column of the table is a separate scenario where values can be quickly compared side by side between scenarios. All of this now makes your scenario analysis more straightforward and streamlined. (Note: RTI macros have been changed to Scenario Parameter macros to coincide with the new Scenario Manager.)

New Output Viewer time series charts - we are excited to introduce the following new and modified time series charts:

• Location Utilization - this new chart displays utilization of locations, as a percentage of contents versus overall capacity, over the course of the simulation run.

• Resource Usage - this new chart shows how many resources were used and when over the course of the simulation. Add a capacity line to the chart and compare the actual usage against the maximum potential resource usage. In order for existing models to generate this report, resources need to have Time Series selected for their statistics in the Resource edit table.

• Location State - this upgraded chart now includes the averaging of location states across replications. It is displayed as a 100% stacked column Gantt chart over time.

We've also added the following enhancements in the 2011 release:

• Simulate Scenarios - now you can initiate the running of your scenarios without opening the scenario manager. Quickly simulate your scenarios by choosing Simulate Scenarios from the Simulation menu or toolbar.

• Package installation directory - when a package is installed, the suggested directory to install it into now points to the same directory where the package file exists.

• Standardized hot keys - we now use the standard hot keys Ctrl+O and Ctrl+S for File Open and File Save actions, respectively. We also now use Ctrl+A for Select All functionality in tables and logic windows. This means that we had to change the hot keys for accessing the Subroutines (formerly Ctrl+S) and Arrivals (formerly Ctrl+A) modules, to be Ctrl+U and Ctrl+I, respectively.

• Double-click to select element name - all element names, locations, entities, variables, subroutines, etc., are selected when double-clicking on them in their respective edit tables. This enables quick access for copying of the names.

• Data Grouping Interval for Statistic series - when viewing the raw data for time series charts, you can now set the grouping interval if Statistic series are added to the chart.

• Pooling time series statistics - Time Plot charts now have a pooling option that allows you to combine the values of the Items selected and display their joint average in the chart. Series for Statistics are also automatically pooled for all items selected and show as one joint Statistic, if the chart type has been set to stacked.

Features Introduced in ServiceModel 2010?

• Six Sigma Analysis with integration to Minitab – select which variable statistic you want to do a Six Sigma analysis on in your model, run the simulation, and Minitab will automatically open and create Capability Analysis and Capability Sixpack charts.  Because the simulation data is populated in Minitab’s spreadsheets, further Minitab tests and analysis can be performed.
     
• Output Viewer 4.0 – developed in the latest Microsoft WPF technology, the new output viewer simplifies the creation of views, provides quicker and more open access for modifying charts and tables, and allows for analysis and comparison of multiple output data sources. The new user interface follows the Microsoft fluent UI standard and uses a ribbon for providing access to all the reporting functionality.
  
   
  
  
• Independent Scenarios– coupled with the capability introduced in the new Output Viewer, you can run new scenarios independently of each other and compare their results side by side with previously simulated scenarios.
  
  
• Calendars – definition of shifts and time off (holiday, vacation, etc.) for locations and resources is now done using the new .NET Calendar Editor.  It expands upon the previous Shift Editor and provides a more accurate and intuitive way for scheduling resource availability.
  
  
  
  
• Additional graphic formats supported – JPG, TIFF, PNG, ICO and GIF89a with transparency.
  
  
• Optimized path network mapping algorithm – the method for finding the shortest path between two nodes in a path network now uses the Floyd-Warshall algorithm. For those of you with huge path networks, we’ve just saved you some time!
  
  
• Recompile path network mappings between scenarios – path distances or times can be modified between scenarios for comparing the effect of different resource routes.
  
  
• Excel 2010 support – for Array import and external Arrival and Entity-Location files.
  
  
• Online Help System – gives you access to the latest documentation…all the time.
  
  
• Windows 7 Certified – release 2010 is officially compatible with Windows 7!