Comparison of a microscopic discrete-event and a mesoscopic discrete-rate simulation model for planning a production line

This paper compares a microscopic discrete-event simulation model and a mesoscopic discrete-rate simulation model to support the planning of a production line in the automotive industry in terms of simulation results and modeling and simulation effort. Mesoscopic discrete-rate models represent logistics flow processes on an aggregated level through piecewise constant flow rates instead of modeling individual flow objects like in microscopic discrete-event models. This leads to a fast model creation and computation