EBGN 528 – Industrial Systems Simulation
Fall 2012
Syllabus
Instructor: Dr. Steffen Rebennack, Engineering Hall 310, srebenna@mines.edu, 303-273-3925.
Class: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 12:30 – 01:45 PM in Meyer Hall 357.
Office hours: Tuesdays 02:30 – 04:00 PM and Thursdays 03:00 – 06:00 PM in Engineering Hall 310, and
by appointment.
Teaching Assistant (TA): Hidemichi Yonezawa, Engineering Hall 126, hyonezaw@mymail.mines.edu.
TA office hours: Mondays 01:00 - 02:00 PM in Engineering Hall 126.
Webpage: The webpage is hosted on Blackboard. (https://blackboard.mines.edu/webapps/login/).
Textbooks:
required (“ARENA” book): Simulation with Arena, by Kelton, Sadowski and Swets, 5th edition,
McGraw-Hill
recommended (“simulation” book): Simulation Modeling & Analysis, by A.M. Law, 4th edition,
McGraw-Hill
Software: ARENA (student version). The software can be obtained at http://www.mhhe.com/kelton .
For installation instructions, please refer to APPENDIX D in the textbook. Failure to follow these
instructions may result in an incomplete installation of the software.
Laptop Computers: If you have a notebook computer, then please bring it to class for the lab sessions.
You may work in groups of two if you do not have a laptop yourself. The computers in the computer
lab in the Engineering Hall have ARENA installed. Homeworks and exams may be submitted online.
Note: All faculty, staff and student of the University are required and expected to obey the laws and
legal agreements governing software use. Failure to do so can lead to monetary damages and/or criminal
penalties for the individual violator. Because such violations are also against University policies and
rules, disciplinary action will be taken as appropriate. We, the members of the Colorado School of
Mines community, pledge to uphold ourselves and our peers to the highest standards of honesty and
integrity.
Lab Guidelines: During the course of the semester there will be in-class labs. The exercises you work on
in the lab will not be collected for grade. However, it is strongly recommended that you attend them
because they will benefit you greatly.
The lab assignments will be posted on our web-site several days before the lab. It would be a good
idea to do some of the work (at least reading the assignment) before the day of the lab so that you can
focus on getting answers to your questions rather than trying to do figure out the simple stuff.
Rules:
• Come to class in time.
• Be attentive, participate and focused.
• Respect your fellow students.
• Follow the honor code.
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• If you need to see me outside the office hours, please make an appointment via e-mail.
• You may use the “Discussion Board” on Blackboard to discuss homework assignments; if I catch
you posting answers, you loose 10% of the corresponding homework assignment.
• Try to see the TA before you see me.
• If you have comprehensive questions, please see the TA or me, but do not write an e-mail.
• You will not use the ARENA software for any consulting projects nor are you allowed to improve
your employer’s business processes. If you intend to do so, then you need to buy the commercial
ARENA license.
Homeworks: There will be 6 homeworks, usually due on a Tuesday beginning of class. Teamwork is
encouraged, but submission has to be individual. You must follow the honor code.
Team Project: There will be a comprehensive team project. You will work in teams of up to 5 students.
At the end of the semester, you will be evaluated by your teammates. Your grade will be based not
only on your team score but also on your teammates’ evaluations of you. Project development will
take place in stages with specific deadlines. The final product will be due in the week before the exam
week.
Grade evaluation: The homework assignments count collectively for 25% of the grade. Homeworks are
weighted equally.
We will have a Mid-Term exam counting for 20% of the grade, plus a final exam that will count for
25% of the grade. The final exam will be comprehensive and will cover all the material.
The team project counts for 30% of your final grade.
The final (letter) grade will be determined by considering absolute scores. Specifically, the final grades
will be given according to the following table:
93-100%
90-92%
87-89%
83-86 %
80-82%
77-79 %
73-76 %
70-72 %
A
At least AAt least B+
At least B
At least BAt least C+
At least C
At least C-
Exam dates
• Mid-Term: Wednesday, October 24th, 12:30 - 02:30 PM (room TBA; if available, then bring your
laptop)
• Final: Thursday, December 13th, 10:15 AM – 12:15 PM (MW 357; if available, then bring your
laptop)
Class contents:
The contents of the class consists of approximately 60% simulation theory and of approximately 40%
ARENA software. There will be a script on the theory part.
• Theory:
I. Introduction (ARENA book chapter 1)
II. Basic simulation modeling (ARENA book chapter 2)
III. Probability theory and statistics (ARENA book appendix B & simulation book chapter 4)
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IV. Goodness-of-fit tests (simulation book chapter 6)
V. Random number generators (simulation book chapter 7)
VI. Generating random variates (simulation book chapter 8)
VII. Variance reduction techniques (simulation book chapter 11)
• ARENA software (lab based):
1. A Guided Tour Through Arena (ARENA book chapter 3)
Lab I
2. Modeling Basic Operations and Inputs (ARENA book chapter 4)
Lab II
3. Modeling Detailed Operations (ARENA book chapter 5)
Labs III and IV
4. Statistical Analysis of Output from Terminating Simulations (ARENA book chapter 6)
Lab V
5. Intermediate Modeling and Steady-Sate Statistical Analysis (ARENA book chapter 7)
Lab VII
6. Entity Transfer (ARENA book chapter 8)
Lab VIII
7. A Sampler of Further Modeling Issues and Techniques (ARENA book chapter 9)
Lab IX
8. Continuous and Combined Discrete/Continuous Models (ARENA book chapter 11)
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