T. Howe and J.Y. Ruwanpura (Canada)
Simulation, Modeling, Supply Chain Management, Military logistics.
Modeling real life is challenging, as the model is an abstraction of the real system. In the battlefield, operational availability has a direct bearing on the combat effectiveness of the deployed forces, and its equipment. The Land Forces Equipment Support Model provides a recent development of a Special Purpose Simulation tool that allows military logisticians without any knowledge of simulation to model a deployment in order to optimize operations and equipment availability. This paper focuses on the support of electronic equipment used by the Army in the field. The tool also allows users to vary the number and location of spares, the types of maintenance activities performed at the various support levels, re-supply scenarios, and transportation times between support organizations. The future enhancements are outlined in the paper to demonstrate the future directions of the development of this tool. SPS has been defined as "a computer-based environment built to enable a practitioner who is knowledgeable in a given domain, but not necessarily in simulation, to model a project within that domain in a manner where symbolic representations, navigation schemes within the environment, creation of model specifications, and reporting are completed in a format native to the domain itself" (Hajjar and AbouRizk, 1999). The LFESM Template is an SPS tool developed using Simphony that utilizes the hierarchical structure, general purpose modeling elements, and directly programmed modeling element features of Simphony to extend the application of this powerful simulation tool into a completely new domain. The LFESM exemplifies the inherent flexibility of Simphony as a simulation tool that can be applied in a number of application domains. It is a powerful tool that can be used to support military logistics decision-making.
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