Major upgrade to business simulation modeller

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Jun 6, 2001

Lanner Group has announced a new release of Witness, independently rated as the world's leading business simulation modelling product, as well as several other products

Lanner Group has today announced a number of major technology developments for 2001: a new release of Witness, independently rated as the world's leading business simulation modelling product; new modules and upgrades for the Witness Toolset of products; plus a new platform for developing simulation-based applications.

The key theme of Witness 2001, now on general release, is 'Customer Solutions', with an enhanced user interface and new features for easier customisation of business models.

Other enhancements include benefits for all levels of operation from the simulation "power" user to the occasional, non-simulationist, user.

Customised menus and toolbars, improved selection, sizing and placing of graphics and extended user action features for easier customisation of models all make model building easier and more flexible.

New examples of pre-built models are available to fast- start model building, including a solution for modelling Call Centre operations, and for maintenance management on the factory floor.

"As we strive to make our products easier to use we are balancing the power and performance we build into Witness with the need to make it easier and faster for our customers to build concise and accurate models", says David Jones, Lanner Group's Marketing Director.

Witness 2001 is the modelling engine within the suite of products under the Witness Toolset banner.

Lanner has also announced a number of new modules and upgrades to be released in 2001.

Available now to all customers is a new reporting plug-in module called 'Witness Documentor'.

This is for automatically documenting the attributes and elements of a model, and incorporating associated notes into a document format for use with quality, training and knowledge transfer.

Later in the year, a new datamining plug-in module called 'Witness Miner' will be released.

This will enable analysis of simulation input data and experimental output data to identify rules and patterns of the data for enhancing the accuracy of Witness models.

The capability of exploring the data being used in a model, to identify trends and matching data, enables the determination of fundamental relationships that can improve business decision making.

An upgrade to 'Witness SDX (Simulation Data eXchange), the import module for building simulation models directly from CAD layouts, is being enhanced with more objects and elements being translated.

To complete the umbrella announcements for 2001, a new version of Witness VR, the 3D modelling tool, is being released with extra features for building more realistic 3D models.

Additionally, photo-realistic objects can now be developed, bringing real life visualisation to simulation models.

Lanner has also announced its new Simba Developer Suite, a new technology platform that enables its customers and partners to develop their own applications, harnessing and using the core power of Witness in a Microsoft COM development environment.

Simba - Simulation Based Applications - is designed to enable the construction of operational planning systems, in manufacturing, logistics and call centres, using the power of simulation-based "what-if?" decision support.

To be released in August 2001, the SIMBA Developer Suite comprises a developer platform, a designer module and a viewer.

The technology is designed for industry-standard linkage and - for the first time - enables easy embedding into third-party applications Simba Developer Suite will enable Lanner's power customers and partners to develop their own applications - "by getting under the bonnet of Witness", explains David Jones.

The announcement of these new developments comes shortly after Lanner's reporting a year of record growth worldwide, in both its consulting and technology operations.

"In terms of technology products this is only the beginning of what promises to be a year of exciting developments, and a host of new releases, from Lanner," David Jones reports.