Information Systems and the Environment (2001) / Chapter Skim
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Simulation Models for Information Sharing and Collaboration
Simulation Models for Information Sharing and Collaboration
Pages 139-148
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From page 139... ...
SMALL MANUFACTURING ENTERPRISES Manufacturing firms are commonly grouped according to the type and volume of goods they produce, the number of people they employ, and their total annual sales. These criteria tend to be positively correlated.
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From page 140... ...
And how can we efficiently share critical information and knowledge without compromising the intellectual property rights of the organizations that have created the information? INFORMATION SHARING At a basic level, there are two kinds of processes for sharing information and knowledge: synchronous processes, in which people are the agents for the instantaneous exchange of knowledge and information, and asynchronous processes, in which an intermediary technology carries an encoded representation of the information and knowledge for retrieval at some time in the future.
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From page 141... ...
For instance, simulation could be used to construct a waste management system that meets the particular needs of a smaller manufacturing firm and conforms to environmental regulatory guidelines. Flight training, power plant operation, and various other types of simulation models have demonstrated their ability to help people learn by providing a computer environment in which they can experiment without the fear of consequences they would encounter otherwise (De Geus, 1992~.
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From page 142... ...
And when models are constructed to answer questions of a nonrecurring nature, they are difficult to justify because most of the return on modeling investment must be recouped by the one-time use of the model. For smaller firms, the adoption of model-based learning and decision making is a kind of Catch-22 situation: They are inexperienced users of sophisticated modeling techniques, so they are unable to justify the type of investments needed to construct and maintain models.
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From page 143... ...
Although we have to be careful to not push the analogy too far, simulation models of complex systems could be constructed in a manner similar to how we create audio systems for playing and recording music. Industry guidelines dictate standard physical connections and electrical characteristics of stereo components, enabling users to create a wide range of audio systems.
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From page 144... ...
Objects Three basic principles define object-oriented programming: encapsulation, the way objects hide implementation and associated data but advertise functionality; message passing, a strict protocol by which objects communicate and request performance of advertised functionality by other objects; and classes and inheritance, a means of organizing the kinds of objects that are created to maximize code reuse and minimize maintenance efforts (Goldberg and Robson, 1983~. A significant benefit of object-oriented programming is the reduction in cognitive distance between the world that one wants to represent in the computer and the mechanisms that are available to accomplish that representation.
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From page 145... ...
Object-oriented programming languages provide constructs that allow programmers to maintain the relationships between chunks of code and things in the world to be represented. A major milestone of the research is developing the ability to encapsulate individual models so that they might function as objects and exchange messages to accomplish modeling tasks without the user of the model needing to address details of integration and implementation.
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From page 146... ...
If we were to construct a network model of a workcell, some of the object models needed would be models for each of the machines in the cell, a control object to manage the activities of the cell, an order object to schedule release of parts to the cell, and a quality assurance model to reflect cell performance. The agents will configure the interface of their respective model objects and provide the information necessary to configure the network model.
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From page 147... ...
In this paper we have examined object-oriented component parts as a mechanism for constructing comprehensive simulation models that reflect the context of the individual manufacturer. We believe that our approach has particular relevance for small firms that must quickly acquire appropriate information and integrate that information with the unique knowledge, talents, and skills they currently possess while minimizing investment in additional resources.
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From page 148... ...
1994. The open data network: achieving the vision of an integrated national information infrastructure.
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