You can specify how often objects arrive in two ways, either through an Arrival Profile or an Inter-arrival Time. For this tutorial we will create Arrival Profiles.
An Arrival Profile describes the rate that objects arrive in the system and the duration for which the rate applies. An Arrival Rate defines the number of objects that will arrive per unit of time. A Profile Duration defines for how long a set rate is to be applied.
In our example, orders arrive consistently throughout the week. More orders tend to arrive in the mornings than the afternoons, and fewer still arrive overnight through the company’s internet site and email.
Creating Arrival Profiles
1 Within System Architect’s Explorer, highlight the Definitions branch and select New from the floating menu.
2 In the ‘Select new type for all Methods’ dialog, scroll down and double-click the Object Arrival Profile.
3 Enter Morning Orders as the name of the Object Arrival Profile.
In our example, a work morning lasts for four hours, during which, on average, four Objects arrive per hour.
4 Select the Individual Profile tab to set the duration and quantity rates as shown below. We are specifying that during the first four hours of the workday morning – presumably 9am to 1pm – the system receives four orders per hour (16 overall).
5 Using the same procedure as specified in steps 1 through 4, create additional Object Arrival Profiles as specified below. These will be used in the next section to specify how Orders arrive during the day.
Object Arrival Profile
Duration
Arrival Rate
Lunchtime Orders
1 hour
3 per hour
Afternoon Orders
4 hours
2 per hour
Evening and Before Morning Orders
15 hours
2 per hour
We specify an Arrival Profile for a 1-hour lunch, a 4-hour afternoon (that brings a working day that started at 9am, to 5pm), and a 15-hour Arrival Profile that takes into account non-working, overnight hours which runs until the workday begins again the next morning at 9am.
The names that we use for these Arrival Profiles are arbitrary, and the exact time that they begin and end are not accurately specified. The important thing is that we specified Arrival Profiles that account for a 24-hour time period.
