Resource individuality gives you very precise control of which resources will work on individual work items. This is great if you have a process where a resource has worked on a particular work item at one stage in the process and the same resource is then required to work on that same work item later on in the process.

Let’s use the below example to see exactly how the functionality works:

Below is a representation of an inspection process. There are two inspectors who decide whether items coming off the production line need rework. If the items need rework it is then required to be re-inspected by the same inspector to ensure that the fault that the individual found has been fixed.

Therefore if Inspector 1 of the 2 inspectors sends an item for rework you want to ensure that it is inspector 1 who is claimed at the inspection 2 activity.

How do you do this?

1. Assign the resource as usual to each activity it is required.
2. Once assigned select the activity that the work item is first processed, in this example “Inspection”.
3. Open the resource requirements by selecting detail.

4. Under the individuality section select remember the individual resource.
NOTE: You will be prompted to select a label, you do not need to do anything with the label, but SIMUL8 uses this label to store information on which resource was used.
5. Now select the activity further on in the process where you wish to reselect the same resource used previously, in this case “Inspection 2”
NOTE: You will be prompted again to select a label; you must select the label you selected in Step 4.

This feature was added to SIMUL8 2014 as a result of requests from our customers in industries such as Healthcare and Manufacturing. Can you think of where this would be useful in your simulations?

For more info on how to use the features in SIMUL8 2014, visit our Help Files.