Simulation is the process of designing a model of a real system and conducting experiments on that model to understand the behavior of the real system. A simulation model includes uncertain inputs, intermediate calculations, and outputs that are uncertain functions of the inputs. The simulation process is used to solve problems when analytical models cannot satisfy necessary assumptions. Key steps in simulation include identifying decision variables and performance measures, constructing the simulation model, testing and validating the model, designing experiments, running the model, and evaluating results.
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