The integration of information and communication technology into existing business processes effects all areas of a company, including factory planning. The structure of the process of change is based on model-supported processes as well as tools and techniques that are already in use. These include established discrete event simulation tools that have been used in the area of production and logistics planning for several years, and innovative visualization techniques such as 3-D animation, Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR). Visualization has become very necessary in the planning, realization and operation of a factory because the data for the different target groups within a company, from the operating staff up to management, has to be processed into realizable information. The authors, motivated by this initial situation, have placed the conceptual universality of the use of methods in the foreground, using distributed architecture and the targeted use of 3-D modeling in logistics planning as an add-on to discrete event simulation. This article introduces a generally applicable concept for the user-defined mapping of discrete event simulation models onto animation models, describes the aspects of realization, and considers integration into an animation pipeline.
The Goals of 3-D VisualizationIn discrete event simulation, graphic visualization of the simulated processes is used to clearly illustrate process flows and to clarify the model inherent, timedependent coherences. Visualization is an essential supporting component for gaining insights and relaying knowledge. The goal plurality of visualization has been discussed for more than ten years, and is dependent on the phases of a simulation study (creating a model, verification, validation, running the experiment, interpretation and analysis) and the respective target groups (simulations specialists, planners, managers). In this scope, visualization is being used as: a tool which supports the acquisition process by using 3-D models to illustrate functions, processes and structures; a verification aid for creating models (&dquo;...a correctly functioning animation does not imply a completely debugged model, much less a verified model. Moreover, animation should be viewed as one of many tools in the verification process.&dquo; [1], p. 31); a validation aid (&dquo;Showing that a simulation model is not valid&dquo; [2], p. 242); an analysis tool for determining a myriad of situations and influences including deadlock situations, system bottlenecks, the effects of strategies, and stochastical influences; for example, on queues;