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Inland waterway logistics have their own special aspects that include high seasonality due to weather conditions, long delivery times, restricted door-to-door delivery capabilities, and more. On the other hand, river transport is cheap, environmentally friendly, and allows large amounts of goods to be carried. Barges are widely used to carry both bulk cargo and containers. Simulation can help companies justify switching to river logistics by comparing water transportation to other means in terms of costs, throughput, or shipping time. Shipping operators can use simulation to optimize routing and fleet management policies, taking into account uncertainties, breakdowns, bottlenecks, weather conditions, and water level. The following is a success story of river transport simulation-based optimization in South America.

The sphere of public transportation services in Australia is undergoing a transformation in response to a number of drivers, such as a need for inter-modal integration and widespread introduction of consumer information technologies. However, in order to better address new challenges associated with these changes one must first develop an understanding of the dynamic relationships between the way public transportation system operates and the many ways in which people use it to achieve desired mobility. The public transportation company employed PwC to develop a solution for better decision-making and problem-solving. A model was built using AnyLogic 7 as a platform to unify and animate various static data into a dynamic system of interactions. The model is based on three sources of information: network structure provided in GIS format, service timetable in tabular form and ticket sales information gathered from a variety of systems.

From warehousing decisions and transportation planning, to minimizing expenses and maximizing service level, optimizing a supply chain and logistics network is a complex and multi-faceted exercise. In addition to the day-to-day challenges, prepare your organization for the unexpected; a port shutdown, trade policy changes or natural disasters. These and other unexpected events can have a devastating impact on your organization. Mitigating the impact of external factors by ensuring alternative mission-critical capability will help prepare your business to overcome such adversity. Compared to traditional methods, utilizing simulation modeling for crisis management, business continuity, cyber attacks, disaster recovery, reorganization and other “what-if” scenarios is a low-cost, relatively quick, easy-to-run solution. Simulation modeling allows you to visualize these key factors and engage decision makers to ensure your plan is as effective as possible, and that you are prepared for whatever you encounter.

A major U.S. airline was facing a situation where opportunities to extend the existing strategy were limited, coupled with an increasing cost structure due to competition, commodity prices, and acquisition integration activities. The airline began to explore several options to generate new profits through ancillary products or changes to existing policies and was under intense pressure from board members, Wall Street and various analysts to do so. PwC, the world’s second largest professional services network, was employed by the Airline to model the predicted impact of the client’s ticket market share and company brand sentiment after introducing new products or policy changes.

A Major Consulting Firm Serving an International Civil Agency chose AnyLogic to evaluate solutions to developing countries potential food insecurity issues. Food security is a complex sustainable development issue, linked to health through malnutrition, but also to sustainable economic development, environment, and trade. Issues such as whether households get enough food, how it is distributed within the household and whether that food fulfills the nutrition needs of all members of the household is an ongoing problem in developing countries.

The University of Erlangen-Nuremburg Computer Networks and Communication Systems group specializes in the simulation of large-scaled complex systems such as healthcare, automotive, industry and energy. One of the latest projects concerned the possibility and location of Mobile Stroke Units (MSU’s) due to the increase of stroke victims in an aging population. A stroke is typically caused by Thrombosis and should be treated with thrombolysis. Stroke causes severe disability and produces high costs for care and rehab if not treated quickly.

Many people, who are interested in sales forecasting, are familiar with the book Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely. The abstract of the book states: “Dan Ariely refutes the common assumption that we behave in fundamentally rational ways. From drinking coffee to losing weight, from buying a car to choosing a romantic partner, we consistently overpay, underestimate, and procrastinate. Yet these misguided behaviors are neither random nor senseless. They're systematic and predictable—making us predictably irrational.” The irrationality of human decisions is the basis of behavioral economics. Predictably Irrational, and many other books, give many examples which argue the idea of consumer rationality. Businesses are irrational too, as they are guided by human beings.