Embedding human scheduling in a steel plant simulation

A simulation was commissioned to understand the interactions that constrain the capacity of a steel plant. The aim was for this to become a reusable tool that could evaluate the effect of future changes to market requirements and operational practices. This paper describes how a simulation model incorporating human decision-making was conceived and constructed. The use of simulation as a tool for knowledge capture in scheduling is considered. The resulting tool has been in use for four years and has acted as a driver to reconsider where the real processing bottlenecks are and what part scheduling can play in managing them.