ISYE6644 MIDTERM 2
QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS
VERIFIED BY EXPERTS 2024
What is process interaction? - CORRECT ANSWER>>>>Consider a generic customer
(entity) and the sequence of events and activities (processes) it undergoes as it moves
through the system. At any time the system may have many entities interacting with
each other as they compete for resources.
What is the template panel in Arena? - CORRECT ANSWER>>>>Where you get your
"stuff" i.e. blocks, processes.
Which options in the toolbar help with various visualization aids? - CORRECT
ANSWER>>>>Arrange, Object, Window
What does the Tools option in the toolbar have? - CORRECT ANSWER>>>>Lots of
cool toys, including Input Analyzer, OptQuest, AVI capture, macros, etc
What are some "blocks"/modules in the top half of the Basic Process Template? -
CORRECT ANSWER>>>>Create, Process, Dispose, Decide, Batch, Separate, Assign,
Record
How do you add more advanced templates in Arena? - CORRECT ANSWER>>>>File >
Template Panel > Attach
What items are available in the bottom half of the Basic Process panel? What do they
do? - CORRECT ANSWER>>>>Attribute, Entity, Queue, Resource, Variable, Schedule,
Set
They are spreadsheets that are both informational and allow us to change certain
system parameters e.g. the Variable s/s defines global quantities such as WIP
Briefly explain the Create-Process-Dispose trio - CORRECT ANSWER>>>>Create:
Periodically generate customer arrivals
Process: Have work performed on the customers; maybe have to wait in line
Dispose: Customers leave the system after service
What fields are in the Create module? - CORRECT ANSWER>>>>Name, Entity
(Customer) Type, Time Between Arrivals, Entities per Arrival, Max Arrivals, First
Creation
What fields are in the Process Module? - CORRECT ANSWER>>>>Name, Type, Logic,
Delay Type
,What actions can you take in the Process module and what options can you set within
these actions? - CORRECT ANSWER>>>>Delay
Seize-Delay-Release
Seize-Delay
Delay-Release
You can set how many resources (workers) to Seize or Release
What is the Resource spreadsheet? - CORRECT ANSWER>>>>A spreadsheet with a
list of resources that the model is using. Can set capacity, which is the number of
resource on duty. A resource is regarded as identical and interchangeable. Can create
a new resource in the process module or the resource spreadsheet.
What is the Schedule spreadsheet? - CORRECT ANSWER>>>>Can set schedules for
servers. Enter schedule into duration box.
Can also set schedule for arrivals e.g. in Create change Time Between Arrivals to
schedule.
What can an entity do at a Decide module? - CORRECT ANSWER>>>>2-way by
Chance
N-way by Chance
2-way by Condition
N-way by Condition
What are attributes? - CORRECT ANSWER>>>>Each customer passing through the
system has various properties (attributes).
What are variables? - CORRECT ANSWER>>>>Unlike attributes, whose values are
specific to each customer, variables are global. If changed, it gets changed everywhere
e.g. WIP
What can you do with an Assign module? - CORRECT ANSWER>>>>You can change
attributes and variables e.g. entity pictures
What is the Attribute Spreadsheet? - CORRECT ANSWER>>>>Keeps track of existing
attributes that you might define in an Assign module
What is the Variable Spreadsheet? - CORRECT ANSWER>>>>Pretty much the same
as Attribute spreadsheet
What is the Entity spreadsheet? - CORRECT ANSWER>>>>Allows you to set initial
picture
What are internal variables - CORRECT ANSWER>>>>Arena keeps track of and
continuously updates lots of stuff as the simulation runs
, Examples:
TNOW (current sim time)
NR(Barber) - # of resource Barber's servers now working
NQ(Process 1.Queue) = # of customers in that queue
Create 1.NumberOut = # of customers who have so far left the module Create 1
What kinds of display information can you display while a simulation is running? -
CORRECT ANSWER>>>>Clock, calendar, variable displays, histograms, graphs
What does the batch module do - CORRECT ANSWER>>>>Combines multiple
customers into one super customer. Type = permanent means customers will lose their
identities
What does separate do - CORRECT ANSWER>>>>Duplicates a single entity or split
multiple entities that have been combined in a Batch module. If dealing with a
permanent batch, usually use duplicate original to get several customers all with the
same attributes. If temp batch, use split to get original attributes
Record Module - CORRECT ANSWER>>>>Collect statistics when an entity passes
through the module
What options do you get in the replications tab - CORRECT ANSWER>>>>Number of
reps
Initialize between reps
Warm-up period
Rep length
Terminating Condition
What sort of options/tab can you change in run setup? - CORRECT
ANSWER>>>>Replications, run speed, reports, run control
What are some ways to handle different service times? - CORRECT ANSWER>>>>1.
Pre-assign the service times as an attribute in an assign module
2. Use Assign to store each customer's arrival time as an attribute using TNOW
3. Record departure times, allowing us to get average cycle times for any of the 3 types
of parts
or
Instead of assign module, wait until the Process module and use logical expression
(x==y)=1 if x=y, 0 otherwise.
E.g. (Entity.Type == Part A) * TRIA(1,3,4) + (Entity.Type == Part B) * WEIB(2.5,5.3)
