June 26, 2007
The Mobile Field Services Simulation Model (MFSSM) is a simulation model developed by the Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, Systems Engineering section. To be more precise: MFSSM provides a Java library of simulation building blocks which can be used to model mobile workforce organizations. It contains objects such as workers, customers, orders, product types, roads, and dispatch centers. A complete model can be specified in XML input files, which are parsed to instantiate the required objects, their initial conditions, and the experiment configuration. MFSSM is based on the DSOL simulation engine. DSOL, the Distributed Simulation Object Library, is a multi-formalism simulation suite developed by the Delft University of Technology.
With the introduction of GPS devices and mobile communications devices logistics organizations can improve their way of working. The objective of MFSSM is to support modeling a mobile workforce organization, and to design and evaluate different dispatching strategies for mobile workers. This way the effects of new policies and mobile technologies can be evaluated in a computer simulation before these are put into operation.
Currently MFSSM is under active development as part of a research project. Below is a screenshot of a model based on the MFSSM simulation building blocks. Please note that the situation shown in the picture is pure fictive and used for testing purposes only.