Track maximum number of entities in system during a simulation run

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Kevin asked Mar 27, '25 Claire Krupp commented Mar 28, '25

Track maximum number of entities in system during a simulation run

Hello,

I have a simulation with a queue, followed by a processor, another queue and more processors processing entities in batches of 5 before sending them to the sink. During my simulation run I am able to track the maximum number of entities in the entire system by either using WIP by type on a dashboard with queue as entrance point and sink as exit point, or using the statistics collector to add 1 on queue entry and subtract 1 on sink exit. Both of those solutions seem to work and produce a number of entities in the simulation live during the simulation run. If there is an easier way to track this I'd be happy to hear your suggestions. I can't seem to figure out a way to produce the maximum number of entities in the simulation run into a global table or a similar solution. I would like to use the experimenter to run several replications of my simulation and have the maximum number produced and stored for each replication. Any help and suggestions are appreciated. Thank you!

Kevin

Software Version:

FlexSim 23.2.0

global table labels statistic collector global variables maxcontent

5 |100000

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Answer 1 · 2025-03-27T18:30:13Z

Claire Krupp answered Mar 27, '25 Claire Krupp commented Mar 28, '25

I recommend you use a Tracked Variable. Define it in the ToolBox under "Statistics", and give it a name (mine is called "CarsInSystem":

The type you would need is probably "Level (e.g.Content)"

Then you can use Process Flow to update it. Create a "Custom Code" activity and look for an option in the drop-down menu for "Set Tracked Variable":

Then there is a menu option where you can choose Increment or Decrement:

You'll pick one (or more) places to increment and one (or more) to decrement. (You can also do it in a 3D trigger if needed.)

In order to see how the value changes over time (which will also show you the min and max) then choose a Tracked Variable chart from the "General" options:

And you will get something like this:

You also have the option to view a table with Min, Max and Average values, which are calculated for you automatically.

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5 |100000

Attachments: Up to 12 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 23.8 MiB each and 47.7 MiB total.

Kevin commented · Mar 27 at 08:34 PM

Thank you this helped, I was able to apply the same logic with a tracked variable, incrementing and decrementing to my 3D model. I also see it in Experimenter results under statistics tables for the tracked variable for multiple replications now. Are you also able to help with custom code to either print those results from multiple replications into a global table or automatically export them into a spreadsheet when running the Experimenter? This used to work for me when I was on FlexSim19, but now I can not get it to work anymore on FlexSim23. If it is better to make a separate post for this I can. Thanks!

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Claire Krupp Kevin commented · Mar 28 at 01:37 PM

Glad it helped.

I suggest you post another question about the custom code since I have not done that kind of export, and I don't have time to play around with it.

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