A medical device manufacturer needed to understand the throughput impacts of a proposed instrument change.  The company also needed to understand if and how scheduling algorithms should change given the proposed physical change to the device.

  • Device complexity and high variability in health care systems made simulation modeling a perfect fit to understand the impact of changes to the system.
  • The simulation environment was utilized to understand why current algorithms may be sub-optimal and test changes to the sequencing of work in the system.
  • The model was delivered with flexible input parameters, so the device manufacturer could continue to experiment with future proposed changes.
Key outcome were:
  • The medical device manufacturer found throughput increases met and exceeded the minimum required to move forward with the design modification.
  • A suggested change to the scheduling algorithm, resulting from the simulation engagement, increased instrument throughput by an additional 5%.