ATTENTION

This FlexSim Community Forum is read-only. Please post any new questions, ideas, or discussions to our new community (we call it Answers) at https://answers.flexsim.com/. Our new Question & Answer site brings a modern, mobile-friendly interface and more focus on getting answers quickly. There are a few differences between how our new Q&A community works vs. a classic, threaded-conversation-style forum like the one below, so be sure to read our Answers Best Practices.


flexsim.com

Go Back   FlexSim Community Forum > FlexSim Healthcare (HC) > FlexSim HC: Q&A
Downloads

FlexSim HC: Q&A Questions about FlexSim Healthcare

  #1  
Old 10-06-2015
Kelvin Heide
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Downloads: 0
Uploads: 0
Question Normal distribution in Hourly Arrivals (PatientArrival)

I want to use a normal distribution for each hour in the hourly arrivals table.
When I fill the table the way I think it should be, the model gives the same amount of patient throughput every time I run the model.
Is it not possible to use a normal distribution in the hourly arrivals table or am I doing something wrong?

I attached the hourly arrival table
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version
Name:	Flexsim forum.jpg
Views:	687
Size:	525.9 KB
ID:	3048  
  #2  
Old 10-07-2015
Steven Hamoen's Avatar
Steven Hamoen Steven Hamoen is offline
Talumis, Flexsim Distributor, The Netherlands
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Soest, NL
Posts: 854
Downloads: 43
Uploads: 0
Thanks: 391
Thanked 661 Times in 379 Posts
Rep Power: 684
Steven Hamoen has a reputation beyond reputeSteven Hamoen has a reputation beyond reputeSteven Hamoen has a reputation beyond reputeSteven Hamoen has a reputation beyond reputeSteven Hamoen has a reputation beyond reputeSteven Hamoen has a reputation beyond reputeSteven Hamoen has a reputation beyond reputeSteven Hamoen has a reputation beyond reputeSteven Hamoen has a reputation beyond reputeSteven Hamoen has a reputation beyond reputeSteven Hamoen has a reputation beyond repute
Default

In the help file of version 5 it clearly states that it is possible what you want but in the helpfile of version 4 (and it looks like you are using that) it is not stated so I guess there it is not possible. Maybe somebody from Flexsim can confirm this?

So maybe you can update to 5?
The Following User Says Thank You to Steven Hamoen For This Useful Post:
Kelvin Heide (10-08-2015)
  #3  
Old 10-14-2015
Cliff King's Avatar
Cliff King Cliff King is offline
Vice President Technical Services
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Utah
Posts: 272
Downloads: 158
Uploads: 14
Thanks: 102
Thanked 304 Times in 110 Posts
Rep Power: 412
Cliff King has much to be proud ofCliff King has much to be proud ofCliff King has much to be proud ofCliff King has much to be proud ofCliff King has much to be proud ofCliff King has much to be proud ofCliff King has much to be proud ofCliff King has much to be proud ofCliff King has much to be proud of
Default

The normal distribution is a continuous (non discrete) distribution that generates positive and negative decimal numbers. It's of course impossible to create a fraction of a patient or even worse, a negative patient, so the Hourly Arrivals Table forces the value into a positive integer which in effect truncates the decimal number and replaces negative values with 0.

Typically you will want to use a discrete distribution like poisson() to define variance in the Hourly Arrivals Table. Another popular option is to use P() to define a discrete empirical distribution based on percentages. If you do decide to use the normal distribution, then you may want to use an expression similar to the following so that the value generated by the normal distribution is rounded to the nearest integer rather than truncate down to the nearest integer. Be aware that the resultant distribution may not fit a normal distribution at all due to capping and rounding!

maxof(0, round(normal(3.512,1.604)))
The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to Cliff King For This Useful Post:
Sebastian Hemmann (10-20-2015)
  #4  
Old 10-22-2015
Kelvin Heide
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Downloads: 0
Uploads: 0
Default

Thanks for the different solutions to my problem.
It has been solved.

PS. I've unchecked "Repeat Random Streams" to fix the problem with the same amount of patients every run.
The Following User Says Thank You to Kelvin Heide For This Useful Post:
Steven Hamoen (10-22-2015)


Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
distribution with 3 outcomes hendry teo Flexsim Student Forum 5 05-03-2015 08:06 AM
Problem with Hourly Arrivals and stoparrivals() Pablo Concha FlexSim HC: Q&A 3 07-30-2013 08:32 AM
mixing rail api task sequence and normal CTS Shahin Gelareh Q&A 0 06-08-2012 01:46 AM
Exponential Distribution Guillermo Arce Q&A 15 12-21-2010 12:36 PM
Help me on Pallete Distribution shafizad Q&A 2 08-07-2010 12:44 AM


All times are GMT -6.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2020, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright 1993-2018 FlexSim Software Products, Inc.