Product Releases

Process Simulator 2009 released              Portfolio Simulator 2009 is Now Available!

Process Simulator 2009 is Now Available!

We are very excited about the release of Process Simulator 2009.  The new capabilities that it contains enable you to more efficiently model your processes, more easily build and manage your models, and more effectively visualize your results. 

• Data Visualization with Data Graphics – the most exciting new capability is how Process Simulator takes advantage of Data Graphics and External Data linking in Microsoft Office Visio 2007 Professional.  With External Data linking, you can directly connect your simulated results to the shapes in your diagram and visually display them with Data Graphics.  Imagine being able to view your Activity Utilization on the actual Activities in the diagram or have the Activities change color based upon the value of the Utilization.  Next imagine taking this same visualization and applying it to multiple scenarios so that the results are displayed and easily compared together on the diagram! With this kind of visual analysis you can more clearly see the results of your changed inputs and make better decisions faster in determining optimal solutions.

Along with the new Data Graphics capability, Process Simulator 2009 includes:

• Export/Import to and from Microsoft Office Excel – model information is exportable to Excel not only to view it all in one place but also to modify it and import it back into Process Simulator.  Model building and management is easier than ever before.
• Calendars – definition of shifts and time off (holiday, vacation, etc.) for activities and resources is done using a new .NET calendar interface.  It provides a more accurate and intuitive way for scheduling resource availability.
• Enhanced Scheduled Arrivals – individual arrival definitions now have the capability to be repeated, which can significantly reduce the number of scheduled arrival definitions.  And with the introduction of Calendars, your scheduled arrivals are also definable by a calendar date.
• Simulation run length by Calendar Date – with the introduction of calendars, we are also bringing you the capability to define your simulation warmup, start, and end dates by calendar.
• Adjust for Daylight Saving Time – because you can now run your simulation by calendar date, we enabled the ability for the simulation to account for daylight saving time. Based on the regional settings of the computer running the model, choose whether or not to account for daylight saving.
• New Licensing Wizard – Process Simulator uses the latest .NET licensing component making it more intuitive to license and register.
• New Auto-Update – Process Simulator also uses the latest.NET auto-update component making it both easier and more intuitive to get updates to your software.
• New Windows Installer technology – Process Simulator now installs using the standard Windows Installer technology. Microsoft encourages the use of Windows Installer framework so that install programs synchronize correctly with other installers and keep the internal database of installed products consistent.  This means that Process Simulator installations should be more robust and compatible with Windows operating system standards now and in the future.

For a list of all the features and fixes, check out the list in the Solutions Café or in the Process Simulator Version History PDF.

Process Simulator 2009 (version 6.0) was tested and released for US-English versions of Windows and Visio.  Process Simulator 2009 now only supports Microsoft Office Visio 2003 and 2007.  It no longer supports Microsoft Office Visio 2002.  It is recommended that you upgrade to Office Visio 2007 Professional to take advantage of the exclusive capability of Data Graphics introduced in Process Simulator 2009.

Process Simulator 2009 upgrade (minor version 6.1) coming

This minor version release of Process Simulator 2009 will support foreign language operating systems (German, Portuguese, and Spanish) and contain the following new features:

• Pattern Arrivals – this new arrival type will allow for a cyclical arrival definition where a user-defined pattern over a specified period of time can be setup and repeated throughout a simulation run.
• Arrivals adhering to a Calendar definition – assign a Calendar to an arrival and restrict when entities will enter the system.

This minor update will require an upgrade serial number in order to run it.  For those customers in the United States who are current on their Maintenance and Support contract, upgrade serial numbers will be sent to appropriately upgrade their existing licenses to work with version 6.1 (Note: upgrade serial numbers cannot be used to license a new install of Process Simulator). For those customers outside the United States, please contact your ProModel Distributor to determine whether you need to purchase this upgrade to Process Simulator 2009.

Portfolio Simulator 2009 is Now Available!

The Portfolio Simulator team is proud to announce the release of Portfolio Simulator 2009.  The release includes convenient usability enhancements, as well as greatly expanded capabilities that make entering existing project information into Portfolio Simulator quicker and easier.

Major highlights of Portfolio Simulator 2009 include:

• Improved support for current and future add-ins.  Portfolio Simulator 2009 is required for the latest add-ins.
• Portfolio Simulator now interfaces directly with Microsoft Project Server 2007 via the Portfolio Builder add-in.
• Import projects directly from MS Project Server.
• Maintain cross-project links between separate project plans.
• Import attributes from MS Project Server custom fields.
• Improved support and auto-fixing for conflicting dependency and constraint types in MS Project.
• The work week editor has been replaced with a graphical interface.
• Greater flexibility when updating profiles using the Excel Profile Updater add-in.
• Optimize your portfolio using advanced optimization algorithms in the forth-coming Optimization add-in supported by this version of Portfolio Simulator.

A full list of changes and fixes is available from your ProModel representative.

Optimization for Portfolio Simulator 2009!

With the recent release of Portfolio Simulator 2009, the groundwork has been laid for the imminent release of the Optimization Add-in.

This powerful, new addition to Portfolio Simulator will combine the strategic predictive analytics of simulation with the intelligence of two learning algorithms in order to optimize your project portfolio.

This will improve portfolio analysis times and help:

• Quickly identify what projects to work on and when in order to achieve strategic goals.
• Bridge the gap between:
• Top-down project selection (Based on Budgets and what projects should be executed to meet strategic goals).
  AND
• Bottom-up project selection (Based on what resources are available to execute the projects)
• Automatically determine the effects of constrained resources, budgets, and time on strategic KPIs without manual experimentation on what-if scenarios.

More information about the upcoming optimization add-in is available from your ProModel representative.