Contracting Agency: Tinker AFB, Oklahoma City, OK
Contact: solutions@kbsi.com

Overview

The goal of this project was to design, build, and deploy an On Demand Simulation Support (ODSS) system prototype within the depot-MRO domain. The ODSS prototype (referred to as the Virtual Planning Wizard – VPW), developed and tested using shared facility data from the paint and strip area at OC-ALC during the Phase I effort, has demonstrated the effectiveness of the ODSS technology for the rapid creation and application of simulation modeling for depot management decision support. A key facet of ODSS was the integration of a hybrid discrete-event/rule based simulation engine (a version of this engine exists in the prototype) for execution within an advanced experiment management environment. The VPW is targeted to be a “point-of-need” process and workload assessment tool that is useful by all levels of MRO management for optimizing plans, schedules, situation response, and process designs.

The main innovations achieved during this project include (i) a hybrid approach that combines multiple soft computing and knowledge discovery methods for self-adaptive simulation, (ii) a model-based approach that maximizes re-use of domain knowledge for rapid simulation model development and deployment, and (iii) a portal-compliant, distributed, plug and play software architecture that allows for mass customization and rapid deployment of ODSS tools in multiple application situations.

Reduced Simulation Lifecycle Costs: ODSS technology will significantly reduce the time, effort, and cost required to develop, deploy, and maintain simulation models. This benefit will accrue through (i) rapid reconfigurability of simulations through the adaptive reconfiguration mechanisms and (ii) reduced costs of model maintenance through reconfigurability and through increased re-use of simulation life cycle information at the domain and design levels over extended periods of time. ODSS's model-based approach to simulation development will enable future simulation practicioners to rapidly deploy simulations starting from libraries of domain models and simulation models.

Simulation Agility: ODSS will enable end users to rapidly and cost effectively reconfigure the simulation tool architecture in response to constantly changing problem needs and requirements. This capability is achieved through ODSS's reconfiguration mechanisms and model-based approach to simulation development, helping systems developers use simulation as a mechanism for responding rapidly to unpredictable changes in environments and customer needs and requirements--true "simulation agility."