A company's ability to respond to manufacturing conditions relies on the ability of its manufacturing organization. Simulation helps by depicting the realistic representation of process, resources and work flow. The basic steps in a simulation study are to formulate the problem, build a simulation model, run the model, and then analyze the output. Two examples of simulation that deal with the nature of change in a m.s. are Discrete and Continuous simulation.
Discrete simulation is used when modeling a m.s. that changes at only distinct points in time.
Continuous simulation is used when modeling a m.s. that is constantly changing. The application area of simulation for manufacturing is that it can be used for the analysis of complex and highly networked processes and for processes affected by a collection of permanently changing areas such as structural data, process cycles, machine data, batch size, and sequencing parameter. It can be practiced in the areas of business processes and production planning, planning and operating manufacturing plants, and also for the verification and optimization of the current planning state. The early stages of these types of manufacturing projects are usually when simulation is applied. Benefits of using simulation for manufacturing can include improvement of resource allocation, an increase in planning stability and high-quality designing outcomes, and the ability to assess the performance of entire integrated systems.