Facilities planning, debottlenecking, equipment sizing, expansions, storage sizing, and developing operating rules are all uses of these models. For designing new facilities it is essential and for changing present facilities it is far more convenient, faster and less expensive to experiment with the model than with the real process. The time period simulated would be long enough that typical operating situations are represented. The usual manual methods of analysing a plant configuration would never achieve the detailed features of a simulation model. The analyst can analyse many more alternatives, in more detail, with more information produced, and with more true interactions considered.
Simulation modeling typically produces better designs at significantly lower costs.
Through the analysis of various cases, the best equipment configuration and operating strategy for different options can be compared and evaluated. With today's simulation software, it is also possible to develop an animation of the process. While the key business decisions would be made using the results of long process simulations, the animation is useful for testing the model with operations and viewing the actual operation that would result from a particular case proposed. These animations are a significant help in discussions with the plant staff. They help break down communication problems between the modeler and operations, and establish the credibility of the simulation by showing that the simulation does actually duplicate the detailed operation of the facility.