PROSIM - What Is It?

PROSIM, an acronym of Production Simulation, is a business game structured around the management of a production or operations environment. Like that of many business simulation games, the simulated environment of PROSIM is an abstract one. The decision variables included in it are generalized ones and the simulation is not intended to replicate that of any specific real-world firm or industry. However, PROSIM has been designed so that the decision problems it poses to students possesses many of the same fundamental characteristics as those faced by real-world production and operations managers. PROSIM managers, like their real-world counterparts, are concerned with making a number of interdependent decisions in a dynamic environment, in which uncertainty exists and in which no direct analytical solution to their overall problem is known.

The PROSIM textbook contains nine chapters, two appendixes, and a program disk.

1. Introduction
   • The PROSIM Learning Experience.
   • PROSIM: Objectives and Focus.
   • Fundamental Characteristics of the PROSIM Problem.
   • PROSIM Learning: Some Concluding Comments
2. Participant Instructions
   • The PROSIM Environment.
   • Entering PROSIM decisions.
   • Explanation of Statement.
3. PROSIM Decision Making: An Overview.
   • The PROSIM Decision Problem Areas.
   • Establishing Objectives.
   • Generation, Evaluation, and Choice of Decision Alternatives.
4. Forecasting Demand.
   • Short-Term Demand Forecasts.
   • Long-Term Demand Forecasts.
   • EWMA with Trend and Seasonal Corrections.
   • Approximation Approach to Long-Term Forecasting.
5. Operator Planning.
   • Measuring Worker Proficiency.
   • Predicting Operator Proficiency.
   • The Decision to Train.
   • The Firing and Replacement Decision.
6. Output and Parts Requirements Planning.
   • Master Planning Finished Output Planning.
   • Parts Requirements Planning.
7. Raw Materials and Part Acquisition.
   • Costs Relevant to Raw Materials Acquisition.
   • Determination of Net Raw Materials Requirements.
   • Raw Materials Ordering Policies.
   • Part Acquisition Policies.
8. Quality Planning.
   • Costs Involved in the Quality Planning Problem.
   • Methods for Dealing with the Quality Planning Problem.
9. Maintenance Planning.
   • Costs Involved in the Planning Maintenance Problem.
   • Methods for Dealing with the Planning Maintenance Problem.
10. Appendixes.
    • PROSIM User Guide (Student Version).
    • PRODSS User Guide.