From emergency departments to cottage cheese to fire departments: learning simulation experimentation through WebGPSS

An important component of any simulation course is the discussion of experimental design. WebGPSS has been used by the author for two years to discuss experimentation in an introductory course in discrete-event simulation. This paper discusses how to set up simulation experiments using WebGPSS by presenting three business problems whose solutions require careful attention to experimental design. The first problem looks at staffing an emergency department of a hospital with physicians. The second problem involves the optimal method for stocking a perishable food product such as cottage cheese on a supermarket shelf, showing that under realistic conditions, spoilage can be minimized by placing newer containers in the front. The third problem involves analysis of a proposal for two neighboring communities currently operating completely separate fire departments to integrate their two systems in a way that could reduce the amount of time that fires are unattended.