Analysis of Functional Architectures for Discrete Event Logistics Systems (DELS)

The functional design of discrete event logistics systems (DELS) specifies the systems’ transformative functions independently from the technology required to implement those functions. Creating a functional architecture for a new system is as much an art form as a science and often relies on the tacit knowledge of the systems architect. In this paper, we present a method to integrate analyses to support the refinement of the functional architecture. This method relies on integrating the description of the functional architecture with a formal network description and using that formal network description to provide access to analysis generation technologies. The result is automated access to analysis tools, such as discrete event simulations, which provide critical feedback on the performance of a particular design early in the design process.