The SAGE Course Companion on Operations Management is an accessible introduction to the subject that will help readers to extend their understanding of key concepts and enhance their thinking skills in line with course requirements. It provides support on how to revise for exams and prepare for and write assessed pieces. Readers are encouraged not only to think like an operations manager but also to think about the subject critically.

The aim of this book is to help enable the use of the technique of simulation modelling in the organisation. There is an emphasis in the book on the implementation of the technique in organisations, rather than a detailed treatment of the mechanics of simulation software execution or the statistical analysis undertaken during a study. The focus in this text is on recent changes in the way simulation is used which have led to its wider use and provide the potential for a continued growth in use. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the technique and gives details of where the technique can be applied in the organisation. Chapter 2 provides evidence of previous and current survey research showing the use of simulation and the challenges ahead if usage is to be increased. A particular area of growth in the use of simulation is in service applications. This has led to an interest in the modelling of human behaviour in addition to the traditional simulation of material and information processes. A framework is presented indicating approaches to the challenge of modelling people in organisations to provide guidance for simulation practitioners. Chapter 3 examines the physical and human resources that are necessary to enable a simulation capability within the organisation.

Simulation Modelling has been used for many years in the manufacturing sector but has now become a mainstream tool in business situations. This is partly because of the popularity of Business Process Reengineering (BPR) and other process based improvement methods that use simulation to help analyse changes in process design. This text book includes case studies in both manufacturing and service situations to demonstrate the usefulness of the approach. A further reason for the increasing popularity of the technique is the development of business orientated and user-friendly windows-based software. This text provides a guide to the use of ARENA, SIMUL8 and WITNESS simulation software systems which are widely used in industry and available to students. Overall this text provides a practical guide to building and implementing the results from a simulation model. All the steps in a typical simulation study are covered including data collection, input data modelling and experimentation.