At SIMUL8 Corporation HQ we are all beginning to prepare for Thanksgiving, and it got us chatting about how stressed all the cooking and preparation can make us. Wouldn't it be great if you knew that you had everything you needed and that everything would be ready on time with no disasters?!

In this newsletter we discuss the similarities between simulation and preparing Thanksgiving dinner. We also have a poll to see what SIMUL8 feature you are most thankful for.

November Article

Isn't Thanksgiving like building a simulation?

Preparing Thanksgiving dinner is like building a simulation- you need to undertake critical path analysis to make sure everything is done efficiently to get that perfect finished product... a nice lean turkey with all the right sides.

There are so many things to consider:

Capacity in the refrigerator – you want to buy all your ingredients, but do you have enough capacity to store them all? What are their shelf lives? Do some of them need to be bought Just In Time to ensure they are fresh?

Prioritisation at the oven – everything needs to be cooked and the turkey is going to be constraining the oven for most of the day. Is there a way to prioritise items so everything is cooked in time?

Cycle times of dishes – every dish takes a different time to prepare and cook, keeping a track on the different dishes could get difficult without and organized approach.

Variation in cooking times – that pumpkin pie doesn't always take exactly the same length of time to cook and we need to remember about variability and the fact that one temperature will not suit everything in the oven. How do you decide on the optimal temperature?

Changeover times – from pan to bowl, bowl to table, the length of time it takes to wash a pot before it can be used again for cooking another side dish. All these need to be factored into the preparation time.

What resources are available? – are your family willing to help you out? Could you get the kids to help or would that actually make you less productive?!

Now that we have finished our advanced planning and decided on the most effective solution to our problem we're off to enjoy our Thanksgiving dinner – and we hope you do too!

Need some extra help with your simulation? Ask the experts in our user forum, the SIMUL8 Cafe.

If you have a topic you would like to see covered or if you have any feedback on the SIMUL8 newsletter, please get in touch.

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