Rockwell Automation Arena Users Guide - Manual (Page 141)

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Using Visio and Arena
Introduction
Since the mid-1980s, Business Process Improvement (BPI) and simulation have become
leading methodologies to allow corporations to deliver high-quality products and services
through business process modeling. Businesses are seeking not simply to automate
existing operations, but to improve and redesign business processes to meet and exceed
customers’ expectations for the delivery of products and services.
Many simulation systems are standalone, running only on a desktop and having limited
capabilities to integrate with other technologies such as company databases, workflow
engines, and other desktop solutions. At the same time, leading corporations have discov-
ered the value of simulation technology. Many companies require simulation to be used as
standard procedure in support of process improvements.
A much greater return on investment is possible if process descriptions and simulation
results can be accessed throughout the enterprise. Microsoft
® Visio ® , the leading desktop
drawing product, supplies a common graphics platform for representing business process
models. Visio’s open architecture via ActiveX
® and Visual Basic ® for Applications
enables the overall modeling tool to be customized to fit changing needs. The models also
can be shared throughout the enterprise by publishing on an intranet directly from Visio.
Arena software includes a built-in interface to Visio, mapping shapes from a Visio
drawing to the appropriate simulation constructs in Arena. Process hierarchy is captured
in the Arena simulation model, including activity-based costing and process logic,
enabling an understanding of the distribution of cost and effort among process
components. As with Visio, Arena supplies robust ActiveX support, a Microsoft
® Office-
compatible interface, and VBA to fulfill enterprise needs for best-of-breed software
products.
The Visio Process Simulation add-in
If you use Visio, you can immediately put Arena’s process mapping tool to work with the
Visio Process Simulator. Created as an add-in to Visio, the Process Simulator includes a
Visio template and stencil for mapping processes with shapes designed to mirror the flow-
chart and data modules in the Basic Process panel of Arena. When you’ve completed your
Visio process map using these tools, you’re ready to simulate it in Arena!
Start a drawing
Before opening the Visio stencil, it is necessary to have an administrator on the machine
set the Visio macro security options to Low so that macros will be enabled.