A mesoscopic approach to the simulation of logistics systems

This paper presents a mesoscopic simulation approach in addition to the prevailing continuous and discrete event simulation approaches used for logistics systems. In terms of level of detail, the mesoscopic approach falls between these two approaches. Mesoscopic models represent logistics flow processes through piecewise constant flow rates. The resulting linearity of the cumulative flows allows for event scheduling and the use of mathematical formulas for recalculating the system's state variables at every simulation time step. The simulation time step is variable and the step size depends on the occurrence of scheduled events. This leads to a high computational performance. The mesoscopic approach distinguishes between different parallel product types. The modeling components are multichannel funnels, delays, assemblies and disassemblies.