SIMUL8 reviews

Ease of use and WONDERFUL customer experience

Opmerkingen: 10/10 - I would purchase again. I also took the training with customer service rep and that unlocked my use of the tool more than if I were to just buy and use without going.Both the reps are the two employees I interface with most and I can't say enough positive things about my experience as a customer and user. They already had the sale, they didn't need to keep helping me but I feel their attitude is for the product to truly help my decision making.

Pluspunten:

Product is easy to use but the absolute BEST feature is the support. I can shoot an email with a question and get a very helpful response in under a day or, even better, I have emailed them my file and had support respond with where my error was. I wish I could give them 6/5 stars in this category.

Minpunten:

In today's world we are spoiled with things like the iPhone "just working" and there are a few features that require some extra clicks when trying to make changes. Also could have more "flashy" charts/features but I just export the data to excel when needed to make these.

The best software to simulate discrete manufacturing processes simulation

Opmerkingen: I have a positive experience with Simul8. My final thoughts are:-If you are an engineer in a corporation and want to simulate discrete processes I absolutely recommend using simul8 over any other product in the market-If you are a freelancer or a simulation firm working for clients, this may not be the best choice for you. Either go for Anylogic, Simio, or Flexsim since they give you 3D capabilities

Pluspunten:

I have used Arena, Anylogic, and Simio prior to moving to simul8. I believe simul8 is the best option for 90% of users if you want to simulate discrete event processes. The main advantages of simul8 are:1) Extremely easy and intuitive2) Online trainings are helpful and set you up for success. You don't really need to google for majority of your needs3) Very affordable compare to other software that are usually +$20k per user. Simul8 costs only $5k / user Most importantly, based on my past experience you don't need a 3d simulation in your projects to communicate with stakeholders since they don't care about how beautiful your simulation is. Usually they don't even care how it looks!They only want results and recommendations. They know their processes very well and simulation is just a tool to help them make better decisions. So save your many and don't purchase an expensive software because they provide 3d visuals. Simul8 is the only tool you need if you are about to do discrete event simulation.

Minpunten:

Simul8 has weakness in two areas:1) Charts are very old school. They remind you of Window 98. They are good enough for yourself, but if you want to have them in your presentation I recommend exporting the data and using excel.2) All features are somewhere in properties and tabs. You need take your time to learn where they are and this takes time if you are simulating complex processes

Great support staff. But poor documentation.

Pluspunten:

I value the availability of the support chat function. The support staff are very forthcoming and helpful.

Minpunten:

I need to use the visual logic functionality for most of my modelling. But the documentation for this is lacking. Comprehensive documentation, tutorials and documented examples would improve the experience significantly. The VL interface is also quite frustrating as compared to normal programming languages. Finding commands is difficult, and the use of the interface is not intuitive.

World Class Simulation Software and Customer Support

Opmerkingen: An additional note on the consultant we worked with, not only is he thoroughly competent and knowledgeable about the Simul8 software features and functionalities, he was quite fun to work with and a great conversationalist. Simul8 clearly recruits great talent, both on a personal and professional level. Overall - Simul8 has been great to do business with and well worth the investment!

Pluspunten:

The software is very user friendly and the Simul8 consulting team is one of a kind. Our team had the majority of the model set up and ready configure within the first 2-3 weeks. We ran some test to see if the model was working properly before engaging with the internal consulting team, and we were able to do so with minimal effort - the software is quite intuitive. The configuration of the model did take some time, as our process is quite complex, but the consultant we worked with was a great resource and helped us get our model running accounting for all of our process specifics. An additional note on the consultant we worked with, not only is he thoroughly competent and knowledgeable about the Simul8 software features and functionalities, he was quite fun to work with and a great conversationalist. Simul8 clearly recruits great talent, both on a personal and professional level. Overall - Simul8 has been great to do business with and well worth the investment!

Minpunten:

There are no cons about the software that we wish to report at this time.

Easy, fast, and powerful simulations.

Opmerkingen: Overall experience has been great. I have shared this tool with many other sites in Plexus as well as other non-competitive companies as a great asset.

Pluspunten:

The best part about Simul8 is how easy it is to pick up. I have easily trained many people how to become powerful users in a short time period to where they can create customer level simulations.

Minpunten:

There are very few minor flaws in the software that are very industry specific. None that are worth mentioning due to insignificance.

Powerful simulation program with an incredible support

Opmerkingen: Simul8 provides extensive tools to create simulations and meets our needs about visual representation of the data.

Pluspunten:

Simul8 is probably the the most comprehensive yet easiest to explore simulation creation program in the market. User interface is highly optimized to enable the user reflect the paper version of the model to the visual graph.

Minpunten:

Simul8 has great 2D visualization tools however it fails when it comes to 3D visualization requirements.

Simul8 to sell

Opmerkingen: I have worked hard to learn and understand it. Constantly changing what i use and how i use it.

Pluspunten:

Being able to prove to a customer that our conveyor system would work and to show any issues and changes that we would need to make.

Minpunten:

Moving images and uploading your own small images for the activity icons would be good.

Powerful yet simple!

Opmerkingen: Overall positive experience and would definitely consider its use again in the future for other projects. It might have all the tools you can have in the world, the basics they have would definitely cover your needs!

Pluspunten:

There were many features in Simul8 that we could use that did a multitude of different functions. Simul8 Customer Rep was a big help and managed to find the tools we needed process a large amount of raw data into a simulated result that we were looking and aiming for! Their blog/technical corner was a godsend!

Minpunten:

There was an steep initial learning curve(just like using any new tool) but it became second nature after trial and errors; Graphical presentation is more barebone but the main info more than enough for stakeholders.

Great simulation software

Pluspunten:

Great customer support team, quick to reply and very helpful. Very visual, easy to see how work items move through the simulation and quickly identify problem areas such as bottlenecks. Results of each activity are easy to see and has great functionality to create personalized reports.

Minpunten:

Steep initial learning curve ( as with any new software), once I got the hang of it it was easy to use and became second nature. I would say that the training courses show you the basics with some in depth learnings but there are various things that I learned along the way that are not covered in the training courses.

Great tool for quick but robust simulation modelling

Pluspunten:

It is fast and easy to create simple models that work just as you expect. For more complex models there are also plenty of options, specially if you get familiar with the Visual Logic language.

Minpunten:

The graphical aspect could be improved, specially some option panels that get frozen. Also, it takes a while to open a model. I was using version 2022, maybe this was amended in later versions.

Introducing Process Simulation to a Tech Company

Opmerkingen: My exposure to modern process simulation tools began only 4 months ago. I am on a long learning curve mixing my day job with simulation skill development. The support folks at Simul8 have been wonderful helping me understand how their modelling program works, providing solution approaches and code snippets. Further, they have a comprehensive library of on-line documentation. The trick to using their online documentation is knowing which search terms to use. I had no coding or scripting experience before working with Simul8, so it is taking me extra time to learn the simulation and VL coding vocabularies. While the standard interface is very functional – almost simplistic – Simul8 has a rich set to pre-defined object-attribute terms and code snippets. It takes a while to understand where to find what you need. Again, the support team at Simul8 has been wonderful helping me through this period. While I still have a long way to go to moderate proficiency, I know enough now to help jump start other engineers on modelling projects. This, of course, helps them, reinforcing my learnings, and exposes me to a variety of simulation use-cases.

Pluspunten:

Ready and very capable support, via email and chat. Support is responsive and helpful. They even have a chat button on their "Help" pages. If they are unavailable, you can submit support request and get response in a day if issue is not too complex. Extensive documentation and examples, both in the application and on-line. Simple UI for setting up realistic process flow models and for verifying pieces of the model perform as expected. Excellent value for the money

Minpunten:

VL Code Dictionary a bit terse, could use links to example uses of the code object and its attributes (object.attribute) Hard to find a complete dictionary of keyboard shortcuts I'm using the desktop version. I have not found a way to manage version control except to save the file often with new names each time. In my early model-development phase, I would break my models frequently, then couldn't remember all the changes I made before it broke.

Simul8 for eCom fulfillment

Opmerkingen: I am making heavy use to the VL capability. Most of my Activities have an attached VL routine. I am simulating Robots and Operators in pick aisles using WMS simulated pick lists. Testing Optimization algorithms for efficient Robot travel, Operator travel, and Robot "swarming" to meet Operators at a pick face.

Pluspunten:

Very flexible, fast, user friendly, and intuitive.

Minpunten:

A little buggy. Crashes several times a week. Memory overflow seems to be the biggest cause. Also, multi Activity changes can cause crashes.

easy-to-use software that allows you to create simulations with precision, flexibility and speed.

Opmerkingen: It has been a very useful software in the subject of simulation and Models, especially in the units of simulation of discrete models and in the units of study of tail systems, and events

Pluspunten:

Easy to use software that allows you to create simulations with precision, flexibility and speed. It allows simulation of events and also allows the creation of scenarios similar to reality, minimizing the risks associated with the administration of processes and projects. in addition, the creation of the simulation is done in the most simple and intuitive way possible, by the use of an explicit interface and the basic but efficient method of "drag-drop" to define the process. The user can run animated simulations very quickly without writing any line of code. And Simul 8 Professional plus all the features of the standard allow Customize the results, graphics and reports to show the KPIs (key performance indicators) that matter. Easily compare scenarios to make informed decisions. Realistic graphics Convert 2D models to 3D simulations with a simple click. Use photos and graphics known by your customers, or download from the large SIMUL8 image library, Optimize: save time and avoid errors using Optquest: it will show you the different scenarios and offer you the optimal solution. Share simulations "Viewer" allows you to share your simulations with clients or associates who do not have the full SIMUL8 license. Even more powerful with "Visual Logic" allows you to add complexities and nuances to your simulation in a way that reflects your real life system and processes. Other interfaces can be connected including Microsoft Excel, VBA, VB, and C ++.

Minpunten:

Actually, as such, I do not have any disadvantage or feature that is not my taste, I think a very good software

SIMUL8–A must have tool

Opmerkingen: We use Simul8 to solve complex problems for our clients in healthcare, manufacturing and service industry.

Pluspunten:

It’s easy to use. Everything about the software is excellent. Each year there are awesome updates to the software, adding new features to put the power of simulation in the hands of users.

Minpunten:

There is nothing l do not like about the software.

Simul8 Review

Pluspunten:

Initially, the product wasn't easy to use, as the variety of features made it hard to remember what each feature could do. However, as I gained in familiarity, the software become really easy to use and navigate around. The varied features allowed discrete event simulation modelling to be done with ease, and include significant levels of detail. The ability to record/ store results in simul8, at a very granular level, and then export them to Excel made the analysis of the model thorough and comprehensive.

Minpunten:

Lack of available examples of Visual Logic coding online made it hard for me to do my work. I had to use simul8 support, which were very helpful. However, if more information was available online, I think this would benefit the wider community, and release strain on simul8 support.

Intuitive Software and Outstanding Training Resources

Opmerkingen: SIMUL8 customer support and training staff are outstanding! This support is what sets SIMUL8 apart and allows basic users to create models to support business decisions.

Pluspunten:

This software was extremely intuitive and easy to get up and running fast on your first model. I also highly recommend their in-person training classes. The training staff are approachable and take the time to personally meet you at your skill level to help you understand and complete models.

Minpunten:

None for my personal use. I have seen some competitive products 3D floor layouts visuals that look slicker, but I don’t find this beneficial for my application of discrete event modeling. This could be my technical understanding of the software and not the software capability.

"What If" analysis beyond Microsoft Excel

Opmerkingen: We wanted to model our mechanized warehouse investments and thus have started to introduce the value of simulation and so far the feedback from the leadership has been "interesting, very interesting, let's see how we can use this..."

Pluspunten:

SIMUL8 has enough intuitive configuration based features coupled with visual logic that I spent most of time building the model as opposed to learning the tool. Given how quickly, I was able to setup my model meant that I soon found myself using step through logic features like "work item tracking" to validate the results my model was generating.

Minpunten:

The share feature is a great way to engage others but the 1 week limit is a bit short - the base default should be longer.

Simulation building tool to rapidly analyze and optimize manufacturing systems performances

Opmerkingen: Manufacturing systems modelling, analysis and optimization.

Pluspunten:

SIMUL8 model building blocks are simple to use but are packed with a lot of customizable attributes to model machines and other resources that are common in manufacturing systems. The SIMUL8 programming language (Visual Logic) gives additional customization capability and control of the simulation details. Moreover, Visual Logic programming environment offers simple interfaces and procedures to build the code. Sharing simulation online is an excellent feature to review simulation models with collaborating teams.

Minpunten:

So far the support of the software to build 3D simulation models is limited. It can be a requirement for some users who are interested to visualize a realistic representation of the real systems.

Excellent Simulation software...

Opmerkingen: Excellent software to develop production planning & scheduling solutions..

Pluspunten:

Very easy to build any discrete process and writing logics is easy. Very less license cost and supports com interface..

Minpunten:

Not possible build the simulaion in3D. No OPC interface.

Simul8 Review

Opmerkingen: The product is brilliant. It's the first simulation software I've ever used and after being introduced to other available software it will also be the last software I use. The software is very user-friendly and easy to use. Visually, the results can do most of the talking for you and is very powerful and easy to understand for all audiences. The visual logic feature is extremely useful, however I find myself emailing the support team quite a bit for help with it, I'm not sure whether this is because I didn't have training in it, but I sometimes struggle to find helpful online tools to help me with my visual logic problems. However, when I can't find the solution the customer support team can. They're extremely helpful and will always provide you with an answer, but they'll also always provide additional information on the topic that's troubling you and will help teach you how to find the solution, so this particular problem won't trouble you in the future. Great product and great support.

Pluspunten:

User friendly

Minpunten:

Struggle to find answers to my particular visual logic problems online - always require customer support

Great software and company

Opmerkingen: We have been using Simul8 at our organization for about 3 years. The software, in its simplest form, is easy enough for a novice user to pick up and create a quick simulation, but it also provides a variety of features to make your simulation as complex as you need it to be. I have found Simul8's customer support to be top-notch, responding within hours. They have helped with both technical questions, as well as more conceptual questions. The company is always looking for ways to improve their software and provide regular updates to enhance the functionality.

Great software for discrete event simulation

Opmerkingen: I can solve healthcare problems easily while using Simul8 rather than writing Python code by myself.

Pluspunten:

- Easy to understand of the UI of the software- Several options to set for simulation- Great diagram- Easy to interpret results

Minpunten:

I used a student version of the software when I was a Master's degree student. Thus, there were limited features to use and I could not link data directly for result analysis or plotting graphs.

Simple and powerful simulation tool

Opmerkingen: So far we have had a great experience with Simul8. In my opinion, this is definitely the best value for the money on the market.

Pluspunten:

I like that it is very user friendly and simple, but with the depth to really go above and beyond with experience.

Minpunten:

At times it feels a bit more clumsy and slow than other software.

A great software for discrete event simulation modeling

Opmerkingen: I have been using Simul8 for the past four years. I certainly recommend it for anyone looking for a powerful and fast tool for simulation purposes. Its usability, functionality and plethora of options and characteristics alongisde the fact that it is very easy to learn and use, with a GUI that allows newcomers to quickly start building models, make it an excellent choice. The support documentations and customer support team can cover any questions and details in view of advanced modeling characteristics and questions.

Pluspunten:

Very easy to learn and use, great range of functionality options

Minpunten:

Nothing specific with the versions I have used, the product has been updated through the years to keep up with the current needs

Great support for an easy to use product

Opmerkingen: The Simul8 model has helped us see how our contact centre performance might be effected by changes in demand and services we offer. The ability to run different scenarios takes the guesswork out of our resource management and allows us to present compelling business cases to both staff and management about what is needed. As a charity we benefited from pro-bono support from Simul8, but always received assistance and help whenever we asked. The team really have been superb and helped us evolve the model as we used it. I can't recommend them highly enough.

Pluspunten:

The Simul8 model is really easy to use after the initial set up, uploading different potential shift patterns and/or demand and seeing how this changes our potential performance over time. Outputs, in the form of both performance figure and graphs, help us see where the issues build up over the day/ week etc and trial difference resource patterns to address these. It requires no technical skill to use on a day to day basis, making it accessible and therefore used regularly.

Minpunten:

There were a few glitches when inputting data; you have to be consistent with your data formatting and user error crept in. But that resolves easily with time and understanding - the support team guided us through whenever we hit a minor bump!