Fast creation of realistic and efficient free path network within a simulation model of a shop floor and a supply chain system

Good animation is invaluable to understanding and verifying the processes in a simulation model. In a shop floor and a supply chain simulation model, animation refers to animating movements of workers, forklifts or trucks entities between nodes. The large (thousands) number of possible connections in a complex model of at least 100 nodes requires a new approach to this undertaking. Instead of drawing separately connections between each and every node, a free path integrated network is needed that spans all nodes. This paper describes a technique developed for Arena (Rockwell Software) that builds automatically a realistic and integrated network among hundreds of nodes in a matter of minutes, giving the modeler practically unlimited field for further enhancement as far as the movement logic is concerned. Above that the created network "knows" the distances and shortest directions between each and every pair of nodes and navigates the free path object accordingly.