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Problem solving with WITNESS

WITNESS, the world's leading business simulation system, has been designed with the flexibility to model and understand any process,
however complex. As a result it is a tool, which is used worldwide to model all aspects of business, from the manufacture and distribution
of products, through to the movement of data WITNESS.

Building your Model

WITNESS model building is achieved intuitively and quickly
using a building block approach. You begin to create your
process by simply dragging icons from the central library onto
the screen. These icons, known as elements, have been created
to represent elements typically in use within manufacturing e.g.
machines, labour, parts, conveyors, pipes, tanks, path networks
etc. They may be simple shapes or 3D images, which give a
graphic interpretation to the model. In addition you may create
your own element library or incorporate into WITNESS images
such as photographs, video clips or CAD layouts.
Models may even be generated automatically directly from CAD
software such as Factory CAD.

Typical model layout including hierarchical tree display.

Quick and easy Modelling

Elements represent the diverse needs of manufacturing
Once the elements of your process are in place you can add as
much detail as required. At a click of the mouse, you can link
elements to define your process flow. In the same manner, rules
regarding sequencing, priorities, percentage flows and load
balancing may also be added. Alternatively, workflow
information may be attached to products in the process in the
form of a routing list.
Once the routing has been established, you can then add further
operating data, from cycle times, shift patterns, skill profiles for
different workers and set up schedules, to process imbalances,
variability in demand and breakdown and repair profiles. Of
course real life is also full of uncertainty. Taking this into account,
WITNESS allows you to apply numerous distributions (or
profiles) to variables such as part failures, process times, or a
product arrival frequency. You may also customise a distribution
to reflect a profile particular to your organisation.

Adding additional data

Getting the bigger picture

Like cellular manufacturing, you can build WITNESS models in
sections, which may be run independently as modules or
dynamically linked to create one complete process. This
enables you to easily model an entire factory or to represent
different levels of work within one area. Details particular to one
model such as machines set ups, machine breakdowns, Labour
requirements etc. can be transferred to any number of modules.

You may chose from a comprehensive list of distributions to reflect your profiles
or include a customised distribution.

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Bringing Real Business Benefits

Interactive model changes When dealing with complex scenarios, many "what-if?"
Experiments may be required to find an acceptable solution.
Once you have created your model and confirmed that it WITNESS allows you to significantly reduce the amount of time
represents reality, you can begin to reap the real benefit of spent experimenting, by automatically finding the optimum
simulation - the ability to ask "what-if?". During a model run, a solution to satisfy your chosen performance criteria. All model
situation may develop which you would like to change, for variables can be included within the optimization including
example the contents of a specific buffer area may begin to processing times, quantity, staff numbers, queue sizes and
increase. As this trend is observed, WITNESS allows you to stop vehicle speeds. In each case you have the ability to set values or
the model, implement different changes, and then run the model ranges with step levels. Importantly you can also place
onwards from the time of change so that you can see its effect on constraints on the analysis in order to ensure that only practical
the trend. This ability is of fundamental importance when solutions are explored; for instance, you may apply a cost
analyzing the sensitivity of your processes to different constraint to limit expenditure in any particular solution.
combinations of circumstances. Graphical results are presented on screen as the optimization
runs. Success is typically measured in terms of throughput or
Taking Interactivity Further profitability (taking into account cost). Confidence intervals can
be easily seen for your selection of model results.
With WITNESS you can take this interactivity a step further.
Using the enhanced set of "video buttons" you can run a model
forward in time and then rewind to any chosen point. For
example, if throughput suddenly falls, you simply step back to
before the drop and "Action Replay" the model to uncover the
cause of the problem, make changes and move forward.
Importantly, as described above, you can repeat this operation
as many times as required to find the best result. This facility can
save a tremendous amount of time particularly with complicated
models where a scenario may take a few hours to run. It is also a
very useful tool to help understand why results have occurred.
Alternatively when running a model you may want to identify the
immediate effect of an expected reduction in resource, for
example as a result of absenteeism or equipment failure. At the
touch of a button you "force" breakdowns and "repairs" and
review their effect at any point in the model process. This feature
is key to rapid and easy stress testing of redesigned processes.
At any time during the simulation you may save your model,
complete with all the trends, data, and history associated with it.
As a result you can run a model to a valid start position, save the
model to disk at that simulated time, and conduct experiments
from that valid start time. Also key points in a model run can be
saved for use in future presentations
(For example, a project meeting, Finding the minimum unit cost.)

For finding the optimum solution, WITNESS provides six

optimization algorithms. One of them is Thermo-statistical
Simulated Annealing, which is a proven algorithm. To help six
sigma practitioners, WITNESS provides various elements
WITNESS helps Six-Sigma by providing an inexpensive way to
conduct DOE without disrupting production

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Aiding Communication

WITNESS offers a variety of facilities to enhance Reporting your results

communication of models and their results. One standard
feature is the application of a colour code to elements to signify
their operational state at different times. A simple traffic light
analogy is used; amber denotes a waiting period, green
indicates that the element is being used; red indicates a
breakdown or stoppage. Other colours include magenta to show
a blockage in the process, cyan to show set-ups and dark blue to
show that the process is waiting for a resource.
You may also choose to display any amount of information on
screen at any one time. Different windows can show statistics
gathering on screen as the model runs, thus giving you the
opportunity to simultaneously view a model and its changing
results over time. As a result, it is easy to understand the
differences in dynamic performance when a operation is
modified.
Other aids to communication affect the layout of your processes.
"Meteor trails" are used to overlay the simulation view with flow
lines indicating graphically where the workload is heaviest. This
is a great visual aid to the understanding of work distribution and
bottlenecks. Alternatively the model may be viewed as a process
flow document; a particularly useful feature when teaching
others about the process.
Comprehensive statistical reports are needed to make informed
decisions. WITNESS will automatically produce a variety of
reports on screen as the model runs in order to quantify key
measures such as work-in-progress, average lead-time and the
amount of time that a machine has to wait for the labor to become
available before a repair, set-up or process can start.
The ability to create reports on screen as the model advances
means that trend, and the point at which they begin, can quickly
be identified. This is particularly important when different
products have different process times at the same stage in a
production process. For example, products may have different
heat treatment programmes or cutting times. Reports may take a
variety of formats including Time series, Histograms and Pie
Charts. Displays may also be customised to ensure that they
meet your particular needs.

Creating a virtual world

In addition to the standard graphics available with WITNESS you
may also choose to transform your model into a true 3D virtual
world using WITNESS VR. Once your standard model has been
created within the core system, a fast build facility allows you to
automatically view your model in virtual reality using standard
images from the VR library or icons directly representative of
your environment. As a result, well understood processes are
viewed in a totally new light and your understanding of the
business process improves considerably. This feature is widely
used not only internally to facilitate a teamwork approach to
problem solving, but also to enhance communication and buy-in
to proposals across the whole organisation.

These reports can be copied to MS Excel. From WITNESS,

results can be exported to MINITAB for further analysis. One can
get sigma rating for various parts based on number of parts that
have been scrapped or reworked. Reports help to get an insight
into various parameters of a process. Importantly these reports
can be generated immediately by a mouse click.

View the process in the VR world. ®

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An Integrated Approach to Business Systems

WITNESS is an open system with input and output links to many different packages, either through file formats or directly via OLE (COM
object, ActiveX options also available). A variety of data for example, from spreadsheet software or any ODBC source, may be directly
linked to drive your model e.g. yield rates, process times or transport schedules. In addition, CAD layouts may be incorporated to give a
physical layout to your process. Direct links with Factory CAD ® take integration one-step further, directly creating a working model from
the CAD layout at the touch of a button.

WITNESS - Summary of features

- Powerful building block design
- Inclusion of graphics, CAD drawings
- Photo and video formats
- Interchangeable libraries of
- Customised elements
- Powerful rules for routing of parts, and labour allocation
- Excellent interactivity
- The ability to rewind the model
- Stop/change/continue ability®
- Interactive breakdowns
- Extensive automatic reporting
- Customisable report displays
- Multiple window displays
- Wide save formats
- Excellent graphics including VR module
WITNESS results may be exported into numerous packages
- Extended logic for complex control
thus enabling further analysis and presentation of results.
- Seamless linking of modelsseries, Histograms & Pie Charts
WITNESS has many different imports and export formats
- Displays may also be customised to ensure that they meet
including the following examples:
your particular needs.
- Direct linkage to Microsoft Excel and any ODBC source
- Full email integration for sharing models
Hardware requirements
Ã▬ũ┤" Δ ê уΔë╖ẅ˝▬╖ Purpose Import Export
.DXF Link to AutoCAD 
.SDX Link to Factory CAD 
.CSV Link to Spreadsheets 
.RBS Link to Real-Imation  
.TXT Import and Export of Text Files  
.BMP .JPG .GIF .WMF Import of Graphics into WITNESS 
.CAP Import of Process Mapping Files 
.AVI Link to Material Optimisation/Documentation Files  
.LST Create or Incoprorate Video Input or Output  
.HTML Report Format for Web Publication 

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