Tag Archives: simulation toolset

Portfolio Scheduler To Be Introduced at Microsoft Project Conference 2014

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Portfolio Scheduler is a new and exciting Enterprise Portfolio Simulator (EPS) feature that helps organizations make better decisions by facilitating rapid what-if scenario development.  ProModel is proud to introduce this new feature at Microsoft Project Conference 2014 #ProjConf.  After you simulate a Portfolio in EPS, you can simply visualize the portfolio in a single view. See the impact of projects schedules on your constrained resources.  More work than your resources can handle? Click and drag to change project schedules.

MS Conf 2014 Blog Post Ellen - pic

Please view this short video demonstrating Portfolio Scheduler

EPS Product Summary:

Click to access EPS%20Product%20explanation.pdf

Microsoft Project Conference 2014 (February 2-5):

http://www.msprojectconference.com/

ProModel on The Lean Nation

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ProModel’s Bruce Gladwin (V.P., Consulting) and Dave Tucker (Director, LSS Initiatives) join web and radio host Karl Wadensten on “The Lean Nation” to discuss the benefits of ProModel Simulation in lean initiatives.  Enjoy!

Probing LEAN Space with Dave Tucker

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Dave Tucker

Dave Tucker – Director, LSS Initiatives
Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt

Most companies have the same basic question they are trying to answer from a model project.  How can I make more stuff quicker?  Whether it is manufacturing, government, healthcare, or most any other industry, they all want to get more items through their processes faster and often they want to do it with fewer resources.  That’s the climate we are in now.  Everyone has to do more with less.

I have observed that many problems in Manufacturing can be directly attributed to having too much WIP.  Excess WIP inventory ties up money, creates the need for storage, increases cycle time, reduces throughput, and wastes Resources time.  But Managers want to keep everyone busy so they allow more work to be introduced into their systems instead of looking for Lean ways to better manage the “pull” of work.  Companies that learn to control the amount of WIP to meet their orders always do better financially then other companies that continually flood the workplace with inventory.

So I get excited when a model shows some new information that a company has never seen or understood before.  When they can see the process waste, understand how to remove it and implement the plan – that’s a great thing.

Check out Dave’s work on the Space Shuttle Program with United Space Alliance and NASA…. 

ABOUT DAVE

Dave Tucker is ProModel’s Director of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) Initiatives and also serves as a Senior Management Consultant and Project Manager.  He assists our clients primarily by providing simulation training, model consulting services, and LSS implementation advice.  Prior to joining ProModel, Dave was the Lead Lean Six Sigma (L6S) Master Black Belt at United Space Alliance (USA), located at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.  USA is the prime contractor to NASA responsible for the Space Shuttle Program.

Dave has over 25 years’ experience leading teams, mentoring employees, solving problems, conducting training, and improving operations. He has led more than forty Kaizen Events, completed dozens of process simulation modeling projects, conducted hundreds of training sessions, facilitated over two hundred Belts & Team Leaders, and assisted with the implementation of numerous process improvements saving millions of dollars.

Dave has an extensive background in numerous process improvement tools utilized in Lean Six Sigma DMAIC & DMEDI approaches, as well as Kaizen team methods and process simulation modeling.  He has about 14 years’ experience using ProModel process simulation modeling tools for process improvement.  In addition, he is a sought after speaker and has made many well-received presentations at Process Improvement, Simulation, Industrial Engineering, and Aerospace Conferences.  He has a BSBA in Management from the University of Central Florida.  Dave is a Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and a Certified Master Black Belt.

Ready to Turn Pro?

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Get ready for quicker, easier model building with PCS Pro – a brand new level of Process Simulator combining its original ease of use with an enhanced feature set enabling faster model building, more complex processes and improved model maintainability.

Contact your ProModel Rep at 888.900.3090 or email us at pcspro@promodel.com for more information.

 

 

Nurturing an Empowered Decision Making Culture with Portfolio Management

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Orange Cathy

Cathy Liggett – Sales Director, PPM Solutions

I’ve had hundreds of conversations with Innovation Teams across the US, and this is the relationship that seems to be the least understood. Yes, we woman love to talk about relationships, and men seem to turn us off even before we get started, but this is one relationship we can’t afford to ignore.  More portfolio management initiatives fail because of this relationship, than for any other reason as far as I’m concerned. I’ve seen it, and watched others live through it―failed empowerment can be devastating.

In the book titled, The Three Keys to Empowerment, the authors state that “involving employees in an empowered culture allows them to use their knowledge, experience, and internal motivation to accomplish tasks for the organization.” Most leaders believe this. The difficulty everyone experiences is that talking about empowerment is lots easier than creating a culture where the empowered decision making processes can prosper. Yes, empowerment is meaningless, unless it’s used in context of decision making… Ops, another relationship, like I said, it’s hard for us gals.

Portfolio Management is a decision making tool that can be used up and down the Innovation Value Chain. It’s a tool that nurtures the culture where “the empowered decision making processes can prosper.” Recently, I was at the Gartner PPM Summit 2013, and most of the people I spoke with stated that they enjoyed the Summit, but the most common critique was “Yes, we know what needs to be done, but how?” Let me share with you how portfolio management nurtures the decision making process.

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There are five conditions required for portfolio management:

  1. There must be a list or set of alternatives to choose from.
  2. There must be a prioritized list of selection criteria.
  3. There must be specified metrics to measure the quantities of alternatives matching the selection criteria.
  4. There must be a set of predetermined portfolio thresholds that constrain the portfolio and cause limitations. In a constraint free environment, you’d select everything, and there would be no need for decisions.
  5. Insight into resource availability or needs. Unless you have the power to make your decisions real, your portfolio decisions are in vain.

Each of these conditions helps empower the decision maker, and nurtures the innovation culture.

Decisions about the market evidence portfolio and balancing the sources of evidence are portfolio management activities within the Innovation Value Chain.

  • Determining what problem statements produce a balanced set of business opportunities, with the greatest reward potential, to the market and to the stakeholders, is a portfolio decision.
  • Identifying a set of product features in a roadmap that stay within business constraints is a portfolio management problem.
  • Determining what requirements should be placed in a product launch, to provide the greatest value to the market, within current resource availability, is a portfolio problem.

These are all examples of how portfolio management empowers the innovation team to make command level decisions.

Shell game scam

With choice, comes the ability to experience the consequences of our choices. If after the innovation team makes a choice, some “other agency” nullifies their decisions, did the team really have a choice? I think not. But how, how can that “other agency” trust the innovation team to make the decisions they would?

In portfolio management, formally stated selection criteria and thresholds are used to represent that “other agency”, and provide a method of delegating values and motives to the decision makers. They form a set of guidelines that empower the decision makers to make decisions which represent the values and motives of that “other agency.” It’s a mechanism used to transfer authority. I should now identify that “other agency,” as the stakeholders of the innovation initiative.

If the stakeholders of the innovation initiative desire an empowered culture that uses their knowledge, experience, and internal motivation to accomplish new innovative solutions which satisfy market needs then, they need to provide the selection criteria and performance thresholds required in portfolio management decision making. Too many times this isn’t provided, and portfolio management practices are abandoned.

If the stakeholders have a tool like ProModel’s EPS, and use it to establish meaningful selection criteria, profitable performance thresholds, and efficient resource utilization plans, the empowerment of the Innovation Team is simple. Portfolio management can truly nurture the innovation culture, and become the powerful decision making tool it should be, from strategy development, opportunity selection, roadmapping, and all the way down to the day-to-day decision points throughout the Innovation Value Chain.

For more from Cathy:  thesalesgal.com

ProModel Welcomes Col (Ret) Pat Sullivan

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Pat Sullivan – VP of Army Programs

Over the past 28 years, I have served our Nation as a member of the Armed Forces with great pride.  I enjoyed being a Soldier, and continually sought ways to grow as a Soldier and leader.  And now, I am honored to join the great team at ProModel!  I can think of no better professional fit for my background. I am convinced ProModel understands the challenges Army planners and logisticians face…and have an exceptional product and capable team at the ready to solve the toughest problem sets.

As a career logistician, I always sensed we could do just a little bit better with regard to how we supported customers and cared for the entrusted resources available.  The issue was often what we referred to as “brute-force” logistics.  We continually employed additive techniques to support a system that often prevented us from fully visualizing our process and anticipating the impacts of certain change.

Whether establishing logistics hubs during major exercises in Thailand or building based camps in Iraq during Operations Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom, I intuitively knew we could apply a more scientific approach.  We understood the tenants of supply chain management and even specified “anticipation” as a logistics imperative.  However, when I served as a National Guard Battle Command Training Program logistics trainer, I always struggled with how to answer the inevitable question of how do we know our log process works and how can we test the impacts of the anticipated change.  You see, we had developed a process for what to anticipate, but we had next to nothing to do figure out what the resulting change would mean to readiness.

I can provide countless examples of planning efforts that involved spreadsheets, Post-It notes, and Power Point charts that proved insufficient in supporting the execution.  The fog of war was only cleared through the extreme efforts of Soldier logisticians who facilitated our processes and closed the gaps of the unknown. It became second nature to augment our supply chain with additional resources to enhance efficiency. The Army is good at it…

However, as we move forward the technique may out run available resources. In other words, we won’t likely have Soldiers to support such facilitation.  Therefore, we have gone back to the drawing board to get smarter.  Over the past several years, we learned that if we have a model to track the flow of our supply chain, we can simulate the process and enhance effectiveness and efficiency.  The Responsible Retrograde from Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq and the on-going efforts in retrograding supplies and equipment from Afghanistan are examples.  While the Army supply chain isn’t fully optimized…the visibility, tracking and understanding of the “why” behind condition changes is much more refined.

The next natural step was to leverage modeling and simulation, coupled with some big data analytic techniques, to vertically integrate the most complex tasks we perform.   In my role as Commander, US Army Materiel Command Logistics Support Activity (LOGSA), it was optimizing equipment supply against validated requirements.  This was no small feat…

The Army did have a jumpstart on the demand as US Forces Command, in conjunction with ProModel, developed the ARFORGEN Synchronization tool to tell us what units were deploying and when.  The next step was to extract a 1 to N demand signal by unique type of equipment.  That’s when the work really started.   When we applied available supply to prioritized demands and visualized over time the transactional volume was seemingly overwhelming…that is when you look at it in aggregate. When we looked at it in terms of execution, we found the efficiency gained would provide immediate value as it related to Army readiness…And that we could reduce the # of planners by nearly 100.

Don’t get me wrong, this is not to say the Army has been totally deficient in using modeling and simulation in support of our supply chain.  Rather, the beauty of this effort was to move from traditional methodology and look at the problem through a new lens.  We expanded the aperture…created a new playing field and entered the world of 21st Century supply chain management best business practices.

So, at the corporate level, the Army has developed capability that has value as it relates to facilitating unit readiness.  Some value exists at the tactical level, but at the lowest levels, executors don’t have the tools to exploit the real power of modeling and simulation.

That’s why I like ProModel.  Sorry for the cliché, but if we consider the possibilities…if we put usable tools…advanced, tailor-able, flexible modeling and simulation capabilities in the hands of those who must make decisions rapidly, then we are clearing their schedule for other more critical tasks.  Whether a forward support battalion planner, Lean Six Sigma Black belt or Department of the Army resource analyst, immediately accessible and easily usable modeling and simulation capacity will ensure we make better decisions.  Collectively, we need to spend more time analyzing answers and visualizing the opportunities, and less time compiling data into Power Point charts that rarely answer “what happened” much less “why it happened.”  I’m convinced ProModel can help Defense customers understand the possibilities in enhancing readiness and inject greater efficiency into our decision cycle.

More with Less and the Value of “Simulation”

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Weeds Pic

Robert Wedertz – NST Program Manager, SME

A close friend of mine recently sent to me our Chief of Naval Operations’ “Navigation Plan – 2014-2018”.  It is a vehicle for our Navy to provide “a vision, tenets, and principles to guide our Navy as we chart a course to remain ready to meet current challenges, build a relevant and capable future force, and enable and support our Sailors, Civilians, and their families”.

Not surprisingly, the key constraints in implementing the navigation plan are challenges associated with a Continuing Resolution and the onset of Sequestration.  Warfighting, forward presence, and readiness cost money.  Our military is the better part of 11 years “boots on the deck” in Iraq and Afghanistan, we are redirecting our focus to the Asia-Pacific region, and other parts of the Middle East (Egypt and Syria) are embroiled in pseudo civil wars which may or may not bring about our involvement.  Confronting our nation’s challenges on a shoestring budget, coupled with future uncertainty with respect to out-year budget allocations, has confronted our Department of Defense leadership with a conundrum likely unprecedented.

In order to confront the realities of that uncertainty, the DoD has more and more turned to simulation, but not the traditional kind – like battlefield mock-ups, operational flight trainers, etc.  I am referring to what I call “Course of Action” simulation.  Leveraging software-enabled predictive analytics, advanced modeling algorithms, and customizable simulation programming, the DoD is taking advantage of “sandbox” decision support tools which provide users the ability to run multiple COAs in a zero-risk environment.  For example:

“What if the Operations and Maintenance budget is cut by 5%, 6%, 10%?  How does that affect our warfighting ability?  How does it affect readiness?”

In the simulated environment, users have the ability to “turn the dials” and measure and present the outcomes to those that have the ultimate obligation to make decisions.  In an environment where the only certainty is uncertainty, decision makers are afforded opportunities to investigate distinct outcomes based upon methodical manipulation of inputs, constraints, and scenarios.

This is precisely the type of environment ProModel has created with the Naval Synchronization Toolset.  Our software development team has designed and implemented a customized web-enabled tool which allows its users to build, test, and present courses of action which source Navy Squadrons to Air Wings, and Air Wings to Aircraft Carriers.  The result is a Master Aviation Plan (MAP) which bridges 30 years of sourcing decisions and is “THE” plan for Naval Aviation to support the CNO’s Navigation Plan.  Additionally, we have provided an integrated decision support tool to the FA-18 Class Desk for effectively managing the aircraft inventory well into the future.

The Aircraft Inventory Management (AIM) tool provides the users with the forward-leaning ability to move individual aircraft between squadrons in order to extend the life of legacy FA-18 aircraft (A-D) and proactively manage the current and future compliment of FA-18 E/F aircraft 30 years into the future.

NST is a “sandbox” which allows users to continually refine COA’s in order to support the strategic needs of the Navy while considering constraints imposed by budget uncertainty, unplanned contingency operation demands, and the “rudder” of our Navy’s key stakeholders.  Through harnessing the power of simulation we have provided a decision support tool that is proactive, not reactive, is risk-free, and ultimately provides decision makers a tool to
“navigate by”.

Myself and Mitch Todd (Sr. Software Architect for NST) touring aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt in Norfolk VA.

Myself and Mitch Todd (Sr. Software Architect for NST) touring aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt in Norfolk VA.

ProModel’s DST Summer Tour

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This summer ProModel has been out on the road offering up training to Army soldiers and civilians looking to manage the distribution and redistribution of Army equipment with ProModel’s custom made Lead Materiel Integrator- Decision Support Tool (DST).   Subject matter experts from the Army Sustainment Command (ASC), the Logistic Support Activity (LOGSA) and ProModel, have been conducting materiel management training and exercise (MMTE) events around the country.  Army users are leveraging the power of DST to predict Army requirements over time and help make more cost effective decisions on distribution of equipment.

The team kicked off the MMTE at Fort Bragg, North Carolina training 150 users from United States Army Forces Command, United States Army Special Operations Command and the United States Army Reserve Command.  Other training sites so far include JBLM Washington, Fort Campbell Kentucky, and Fort Belvoir Virginia.

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Training at JBLM Washington

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Training at JBLM Washington

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Training at Ft. Campbell Kentucky

ProModel 25th Anniversary Message from Keith Vadas

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Keith Vadas

Keith Vadas – ProModel President & CEO

ProModel opened its doors in Orem Utah in 1988 thanks to Dr. Charles Harrell’s vision to provide an easy to use and affordable simulation toolset for non-programmers that could run on standard PC’s.  Fast forward 25 years and it’s remarkable to see how ProModel has grown from a small company based on a single innovative simulation software product to an organization with a global presence and diverse solutions servicing virtually every industry from Government and Manufacturing to Healthcare and Academia.

It’s truly a success story.  And it’s no secret that our success is all due to the talented professionals, both within our loyal customer base and the ProModel family, who are dedicated to the concept of improvement.  So                                               I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you all for 25 great years!

Here at ProModel, we’re already looking into a future filled with great promise and opportunity for growth, and we continue to strive in developing innovative and collaborative solutions to help our customers make better decisions faster and create their own success story.

Visit our special 25th Anniversary Page and view a Timeline of ProModel History:

http://www.promodel.com/25/

25 Years and Climbing

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Charles Harrell, Founder ProModel Corporation

Charles Harrell, Founder ProModel Corporation

A few Saturdays ago my wife and I went on a half-day hike up Millcreek Canyon east of Salt Lake City with our daughter, her husband, and their four children, ages three, seven (twins) and nine. It was the first time we had been on this hike and didn’t know exactly what to expect, but we were prepared with food, drinks, sunscreen, good hiking shoes, and basic first-aid items. We were excited for the challenge and adventure, but harsh reality soon set in as the hike was long and hot, and some parts of the trail were quite steep and rocky. The first leg was up Rattlesnake Gulch (named for the frequent sightings of this reptile), and was the roughest part of the hike. There were a few cuts and scratches incurred along the way, but nothing that a band-aid and a little sympathy couldn’t take care of.

1The kids proved to be real troupers (though not without frequent coaxing and piggyback riding) and were always anxious to see what was around the next bend. Sometimes it was a mountain stream or occasional deer or interesting rock formation. Sometimes we made a wrong turn and we had to backtrack to get back on course. Eventually, we made it to the anticipated overlook point where we had a panoramic view of the Salt Lake Valley. With a big sigh of relief, we plopped down on a rock, broke out the now flattened sandwiches and warm drinks, and took in the view. The view of the valley and surrounding mountains was spectacular and we all had a sense of accomplishment as we talked and laughed about the adventurous hike getting there.

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In many ways, I feel a similar sense of marvel and accomplishment as we celebrate the 25th anniversary of ProModel. When I approached two of my graduate students in August 1988 with a set of 5¼ inch floppy disks containing the DOS version of ProModel (written in Turbo Pascal) and accompanying user’s guide (written in WordStar), we set out to revolutionize the use of simulation in the business world by introducing the first graphically oriented simulation tool for desktop computers.

Little did we imagine how difficult the journey would be as we tried to break into the simulation marketplace. One veteran in the industry (who later ended up as a ProModel employee) advised against entering the simulation market as it was already saturated. Undeterred by our inexperience (or lack of good sense), we set up business in the basement of a small dental building that had only two rooms, one of which housed an air compressor that pulsated loudly whenever the dentist drilled. The explanation to customers on the phone was usually, “Sorry! But there’s construction going on next door. Can you talk a little louder?” With determined perseverance, we gradually developed a loyal customer base and built a professional sales and support team that had a good grasp of customer needs. We were all convinced that we offered a unique product—a simulation tool that was developed and supported by engineers and specifically designed for engineers. Keith Vadas, our current CEO, was one of those early recruits, and he continues to keep the various ProModel product teams grounded in the tradition of ensuring our products and services meet real customer needs.

Each new product or product feature introduced over the years was developed in collaboration with our customers to ensure it met their specific needs and helped them be more effective in their work. Along our journey we made the discovery that ProModel was well-suited for healthcare applications since a hospital turned out to be essentially just a large job shop. The hospital administrator we sold the first license to requested only that we change the name “part” to the current name “entity.” (They also winced at the term “scrap” when applied to patients who didn’t make it through the system.) So ProModel became the first to offer a healthcare simulator. There were other “firsts” to follow including the first (true) Windows-based simulation product, the first simulation product to include optimization, the first enterprise portfolio simulation tool, the first global synchronization tool for military personnel and assets, and the first to host its products in the cloud. We are honored by the numerous recognitions we have received over the years including Microsoft’s distinguished partnership awards and the recent high accolades from the DoD.

In addition to the impressive growth in ProModel’s predictive simulation technology, it has also been gratifying to see the breadth of application of our technology, not just in fortune 500 companies, but also in the area of healthcare, education, homeland security, military readiness and humanitarian aid. As we have expanded into each of these areas, we have added individuals with expertise in each of them to better service our customers and understand their unique requirements. (For now, Kurt Shampine is filling in as our hog and chicken expert.) We have also engaged international distributers led by Rob Bateman, creating ProModel users in most major countries of the world.

This, in broad strokes, is a brief sketch of ProModel’s 25-year history. It highlights what I believe has made ProModel such a distinguished provider of predictive analytic, simulation solutions. And now, after pausing to reflect on the accomplishments of so many individuals over the past quarter century, I can only say, I can’t wait to see what’s around the next bend—the one just up ahead.

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