Simulation improves your business. Good simulation studies, however need well educated simulation engineers with specific domain knowledge of your particular line of business. Not every company is aware of the benefits of simulation for process design and optimization mainly because they lack people with knowledge of simulation. An increasing number of companies has come to realize this and there is a strong demand for experienced staff.

INCONTROL has always been aware of the importance of education. That is why we have developed an extensive suite of support material for educational institutions, the Educational Suite. A strong feature of the ED Educational Suite is a choice of different simulation
case studies. Through a case study, students learn to investigate and work out a practical problem step by step: the ‘learning by doing’ principle. Beside insight into the actual problem, another important objective is the development of competence in the performance of
a simulation study.
The initial design of the Educational Suite was shaped by feedback from the first Seminar Simulation & EDucation. The purpose of the Seminar was to further engage teachers in the applications of simulation in education, but also to familiarize them with its applications
in industry. In June 2008 INCONTROL Simulation Solution organized the third Seminar Simulation & Education, in cooperation with the University of Amsterdam.

During the seminar, prof. dr. Hendrik Vanmaele of Ghent University, also Managing Director at our partner Möbius, presented simulation as an essential tool for the continuous improvement of business processes in combination with Six Sigma and lean methodologies.
Simulation not only facilitates building your business case but also the validation of the proposed solution. Prof. dr. Nico van Dijk of the University of Amsterdam presented a combined approach of simulation and classical Operations Research such as queueing,
scheduling and linear programming, which can be beneficial in the optimization of processes in operations and service management.

Besides presentations there were also workshops. During these workshops, teachers could experiment with a new style of case studies in which the focus is less on model building and more on solving business problems. For instance, in the The Happy Customer case study, students receive a model of an inventory and manufacturing system. Simulation is applied to fulfill customer demand through the most efficient use of inventory. In the model, students can manipulate the reorder interval and order sizes to find an optimal solution.

Reactions to the seminars have been very positive. Teachers especially appreciate becoming familiar with simulation applications in the industry and new developments in the Educational Suite. Furthermore, the seminars provide a good opportunity to share teaching
experience. Due to the success of the Dutch edition of the seminar, INCONTROL is now also in the process of setting up a Belgian edition in cooperation with Ghent University. Other countries may follow. We hope to meet you at a future Seminar Simulation and Education!