SIMUL8

4.6 (135)
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Business process modeling and simulation tool

Overall rating

4.6 /5
(135)
Value for Money
4.5/5
Features
4.5/5
Ease of Use
4.3/5
Customer Support
4.9/5

95%
recommended this app
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135 Reviews

Kristina
Kristina
Overall rating
  • Industry: Mechanical or Industrial Engineering
  • Company size: 1,001–5,000 Employees
  • Used Weekly for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

Ease of use and WONDERFUL customer experience

Reviewed on 2019/08/09

10/10 - I would purchase again. I also took the training with customer service rep and that...

10/10 - I would purchase again. I also took the training with customer service rep and that unlocked my use of the tool more than if I were to just buy and use without going.Both the reps are the two employees I interface with most and I can't say enough positive things about my experience as a customer and user. They already had the sale, they didn't need to keep helping me but I feel their attitude is for the product to truly help my decision making.

Pros

Product is easy to use but the absolute BEST feature is the support. I can shoot an email with a question and get a very helpful response in under a day or, even better, I have emailed them my file and had support respond with where my error was. I wish I could give them 6/5 stars in this category.

Cons

In today's world we are spoiled with things like the iPhone "just working" and there are a few features that require some extra clicks when trying to make changes. Also could have more "flashy" charts/features but I just export the data to excel when needed to make these.

Alternatives Considered

FlexSim, Visual Components, Teamcenter and Simio

Reasons for Switching to SIMUL8

When our team was evaluating multiple software, Simlu8 was the only one that had their price displayed on their website. There were others slightly cheaper through a quoting system but the Simul8 product in addition to the culture of transparency was plain better. Depending on which we were comparing it against, Simul8 had a better UX and/or better features for what we needed.
Aida
Overall rating
  • Industry: Hospital & Health Care
  • Company size: 1,001–5,000 Employees
  • Used Weekly for 1+ year
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

A user friendly

Reviewed on 2024/02/05

I can’t praise the simul8 team enough, very knowledgeable, patient and flexible. Everyone has been...

I can’t praise the simul8 team enough, very knowledgeable, patient and flexible. Everyone has been very supportive and they are still supportive through my project.

The team has ideas and is always looking to improve and find solutions. My project was with the university and in a hospital and the simul8 have been very flexible about availability.

Pros

Simul8 made the very complex IVF lab structure easy to picture and see and understand. This is key to showcase how difficult planning is and what are the main bottlenecks.
The visuals are important and the quality of the inputs is very high.

Cons

To be able to utilise simul8, I needed help so I still can’t use it by myself. I have been handheld all the way through. I suppose if someone has the time and the ability to learn they can do it
I work in healthcare and have a full time job.

Iris
Overall rating
  • Industry: Government Administration
  • Company size: 5,001–10,000 Employees
  • Used Daily for 1-5 months
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 3.0 /10

Great support staff. But poor documentation.

Reviewed on 2020/12/22

Pros

I value the availability of the support chat function. The support staff are very forthcoming and helpful.

Cons

I need to use the visual logic functionality for most of my modelling. But the documentation for this is lacking. Comprehensive documentation, tutorials and documented examples would improve the experience significantly.
The VL interface is also quite frustrating as compared to normal programming languages. Finding commands is difficult, and the use of the interface is not intuitive.

Response from SIMUL8

Hi Iris,

Thank you for taking the time to write a review, user feedback is so important for helping us improve. We originally replied back in 2020, we wanted to follow up again as we've made improvements in the areas you suggested improvements.

Firstly the Visual Logic editor has had a major update. Yourself and other users wanted us to make it completely free type like other programme editors you use. We've now done this, so you can type freely with no verification getting in the way. To help beginner users we've kept the line validation but moved it to a separate mode. So now all users can have VL behave as suits them.

In terms of documentation we've since introduced Simul8 Academy and have introduced a range of new examples for Visual Logic. We'll keep adding to this bank each week so it will grow as a resource.

Again, thank you for the feedback. It has been invaluable and directly inputted to our product development. Thank you.

Frances Sneddon
CTO, Simul8

Maximilian
Overall rating
  • Industry: Pharmaceuticals
  • Company size: 51–200 Employees
  • Used Weekly for 1-5 months
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10

nine out of ten

Reviewed on 2024/08/21

The course was super helpful to better understand the basic building blocks and all of their...

The course was super helpful to better understand the basic building blocks and all of their options.

Pros

simple to build quick simulations but has capability for more complex simulations

Cons

Some options are quite hidden and are hard to find.

Response from SIMUL8

Maximilian, thank you for sharing your feedback with us! We’re thrilled to hear you find Simul8 straightforward for building quick simulations, yet capable of handling more complex needs. Making our software intuitive and valuable from the start is a priority for us, so it's great to know this aligns with your experience.

We understand that some advanced options may feel less accessible, as we’ve intentionally kept the interface streamlined for new users. However, we’re always looking to improve, so if there are specific features you’d like to see more prominently, we’d love your input! Please feel free to reach out to us at [email protected] with any suggestions.

Thank you again for your review and for choosing Simul8—we’re here to support your simulation journey!

Zach
Overall rating
  • Industry: Defense & Space
  • Company size: 1,001–5,000 Employees
  • Used Daily for 1-5 months
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

An Ode to Simul8

Reviewed on 2024/07/02

Completely happy. Blown away by the capabilities. Looking forward to further my project with the...

Completely happy. Blown away by the capabilities. Looking forward to further my project with the team.

Pros

Simul8 is the first simulation application I've used in my career and just wow! I'm completely blown out of the water. While still being in the early stages of production, this program has already solved multiple headaches.

Cons

My one and only gripe, I wish simul8 would auto update itself.

John
Overall rating
  • Industry: Medical Devices
  • Company size: 10,000+ Employees
  • Used Weekly for 1-5 months
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

Stryker & Simul8

Reviewed on 2024/05/14

The support provided is outstanding.[sensitive content hidden]was partnered with us. She was...

The support provided is outstanding.[sensitive content hidden]was partnered with us. She was amazing. She helped us build something from scratch by outlining a structured approach, being collaborative, working through together and explaining things a we go. Fantastic support, great knowledge, ability to create and nice communication style in getting things done right.

Pros

The simplicity of the software and its capability. Need more time using software to get familiar with it.

Like the

Cons

No issues to date. It is capable of doing what we need. Need more time using software.

Basic input creation has a lot of options but it may help to have quick tip guidelines or scenario examples.

Handover of model, in package provided it would help if support was provided here for a set period of time. A support service just to understand things better and possibly refine things in model.

Justin
Overall rating
  • Industry: Civil Engineering
  • Company size: 201–500 Employees
  • Used Weekly for 1+ year
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10

Ashford user

Reviewed on 2024/04/30

A good experience overall but the support team are essential to enable one to get the most out of...

A good experience overall but the support team are essential to enable one to get the most out of the product.

Pros

The basic building blocks are quite intuitive and simple scenarios easy to model. The Simul8 support team are excellent for help with more complex schemes.

Cons

The visual logig guidance assumes a degree of coding familiarity. Given it is such a powerful addition to a model I feel the introductory guidance on line could be better presented.

Pranav
Overall rating
  • Industry: Hospital & Health Care
  • Company size: 501–1,000 Employees
  • Used Weekly for 1-5 months
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Ease of Use
  • Likelihood to recommend 7.0 /10

User Feedback

Reviewed on 2024/07/11

Pros

1. Ability to visualize results, KPIs in Result Manager
2. Ability to export results easily
3. Ability to have Visual Logic code at one place
4. Built in plot features e.g. Utilization, Contents

Cons

1. Hangs/Crashes a lot if the simulation input data is huge
2. Takes huge time loading (on every click) if simulation input data is huge
3. Visual logic needs experience (unlike java or other commonly used languages)
4. The resource-pool size value changes after optimisation experiment is run
5. Their is no direct way to plot utilization for activities that have replications (>0)

Bill
Overall rating
  • Industry: Paper & Forest Products
  • Company size: 10,000+ Employees
  • Used Monthly for 1+ year
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

Simul8 Support and Service

Reviewed on 2024/03/26

Their customer service and support are second to none. As a statistician I used to think SAS had...

Their customer service and support are second to none. As a statistician I used to think SAS had the best service and support, but Simul8 tops them which I didn't think was possible.

Pros

Great tool and very powerful. Like everything there is a learning curve, but you can get good results very quickly and as your learning progresses, you can build even more insightful models.

Cons

Don't have any big dislikes. The graphics are not quite as elaborate as some other packages, but those packages are more expensive. The graphics quality does not detract from the results of the models.

Colin
Overall rating
  • Industry: Mechanical or Industrial Engineering
  • Company size: 501–1,000 Employees
  • Used Weekly for 1-5 months
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

Great Product

Reviewed on 2024/04/25

Enjoyable to use and making the simulation.

Enjoyable to use and making the simulation.

Pros

Support from team on getting started and support.

Cons

Training in the start up package should be longer.

Sonya
Overall rating
  • Industry: Civic & Social Organization
  • Company size: 501–1,000 Employees
  • Used Weekly for 1-5 months
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

Appreciate the tool and support, still working on implementation

Reviewed on 2024/01/04

Excellent. The support I've been receiving is fantastic.

Excellent. The support I've been receiving is fantastic.

Pros

The ability to simulate my complex work process and test the impact of various assumptions.

Cons

Still finding it difficult to set up processes myself at the level of complexity that I would like. I am an operations manager with a background in process improvement and business analysis, but not able to devote as much time or coding skill to master this as quickly as I would have liked.

Andrew
Overall rating
  • Industry: Construction
  • Company size: 201–500 Employees
  • Used Monthly for 1+ year
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10

SIMUL8 Review

Reviewed on 2023/06/28

I use this for specific scenarios which come around every once in a while. Although I am not a...

I use this for specific scenarios which come around every once in a while. Although I am not a heavy user I do not have many complaints about the software while I am using it. For engineers this is a useful tool to make informed decisions about their process.

Pros

This software allows me to simulate process flow to guarantee production rates. The ability to program the software is key to complex scenarios.

Cons

I find that there is a learning curve to being proficient at using this software. It could benefit from a cleaner looking UI.

Joseph
Overall rating
  • Industry: Automotive
  • Company size: 501–1,000 Employees
  • Used Monthly for Free Trial
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10

Good job with caveats

Reviewed on 2024/04/02

The simulate training should have included more hands on usage of building a system to use the...

The simulate training should have included more hands on usage of building a system to use the tools.

Pros

The software was really powerful and a lot of functionality built in. The help function included a lot of helpful info.

Cons

The training would start several minutes late each day. We would be in a TEAMS waiting room with no info as to when or if the meeting would start. The meeting should have started on time each day.

Cosimo
Overall rating
  • Industry: Logistics & Supply Chain
  • Company size: 10,000+ Employees
  • Used Daily for 1+ year
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10

Powerful and user friendly!!!

Reviewed on 2023/04/21

Pros

The interface of the software is very intuitive and fast to use. All the needed tools for simulation are at a click available. The possibility to interact with VBA and Python makes it a good candidate to develop a digital twin. Simplicity of use also in complex environments and great customer support Team.

Cons

Some more advanced features needs to be developed more in depth.

Andy
Overall rating
  • Industry: Education Management
  • Company size: 501–1,000 Employees
  • Used Weekly for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

SImul8 - a great simulation and educational tool

Reviewed on 2023/02/21

My experience with Simul8 is very positive. I have been using it for several years now. It is easy...

My experience with Simul8 is very positive. I have been using it for several years now. It is easy and intuitive to use and you can be up and running wiht it very quickly.I would recommend it to anyone looking at operations research or trying to imporove their process flow.

Pros

The software is easy to use that anyone can get started very quickly. A user can build a model quickly, run it, and see the results. From there users can quickly expand on what they have learned and adapt it to their speific requirements/needs.

Cons

Some of the advanced features are a more challenging and a little abstract.

Jacob
Overall rating
  • Industry: Semiconductors
  • Company size: 10,000+ Employees
  • Used Daily for 6-12 months
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10

Semiconductor Manufacturing Modeling

Reviewed on 2023/03/02

Simul8 has been a great software for providing insight in specific metrics prior to creation of our...

Simul8 has been a great software for providing insight in specific metrics prior to creation of our fab. We will continue to develop the model with our fab and it is exciting to see the results align with reality as we progress forward. This software has allowed us to make data driven decisions at a management level for how to operate the fab effectively.

Pros

This software was not designed specifically for our use case, but the expert we worked with at Simul8 was able to develop a model that would meet the needs we have for modeling our fab.

Cons

Granularity of chamber modeling and a more robust ability to model chambers. This is not the specific design of the software, however.

Richard
Overall rating
  • Industry: Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing
  • Company size: 5,001–10,000 Employees
  • Used Daily for 1-5 months
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

Introducing Process Simulation to a Tech Company

Reviewed on 2021/12/20

My exposure to modern process simulation tools began only 4 months ago. I am on a long learning...

My exposure to modern process simulation tools began only 4 months ago. I am on a long learning curve mixing my day job with simulation skill development. The support folks at Simul8 have been wonderful helping me understand how their modelling program works, providing solution approaches and code snippets. Further, they have a comprehensive library of on-line documentation.

The trick to using their online documentation is knowing which search terms to use. I had no coding or scripting experience before working with Simul8, so it is taking me extra time to learn the simulation and VL coding vocabularies. While the standard interface is very functional – almost simplistic – Simul8 has a rich set to pre-defined object-attribute terms and code snippets. It takes a while to understand where to find what you need. Again, the support team at Simul8 has been wonderful helping me through this period.

While I still have a long way to go to moderate proficiency, I know enough now to help jump start other engineers on modelling projects. This, of course, helps them, reinforcing my learnings, and exposes me to a variety of simulation use-cases.

Pros

Ready and very capable support, via email and chat. Support is responsive and helpful. They even have a chat button on their "Help" pages. If they are unavailable, you can submit support request and get response in a day if issue is not too complex.

Extensive documentation and examples, both in the application and on-line.

Simple UI for setting up realistic process flow models and for verifying pieces of the model perform as expected.

Excellent value for the money

Cons

VL Code Dictionary a bit terse, could use links to example uses of the code object and its attributes (object.attribute)

Hard to find a complete dictionary of keyboard shortcuts

I'm using the desktop version. I have not found a way to manage version control except to save the file often with new names each time. In my early model-development phase, I would break my models frequently, then couldn't remember all the changes I made before it broke.

Joshua
Overall rating
  • Industry: Management Consulting
  • Company size: 2–10 Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

SIMUL8–A must have tool

Reviewed on 2022/08/02

We use Simul8 to solve complex problems for our clients in healthcare, manufacturing and service...

We use Simul8 to solve complex problems for our clients in healthcare, manufacturing and service industry.

Pros

It’s easy to use. Everything about the software is excellent. Each year there are awesome updates to the software, adding new features to put the power of simulation in the hands of users.

Cons

There is nothing l do not like about the software.

Nathan Atherden
Overall rating
  • Industry: Research
  • Company size: 1,001–5,000 Employees
  • Used Weekly for 1-5 months
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

DES in Healthcare

Reviewed on 2023/03/08

Used to aid decision making, particularly with regards to value effectiveness, in healthcare.

Used to aid decision making, particularly with regards to value effectiveness, in healthcare.

Pros

Great value and support. Good flexibility. Interacts with Excel and R.

Cons

Visual logic a bit different from other modern coding languages, but like anything else, you get used to it.

eyamir
eyamir
Overall rating
  • Used Weekly for 1-5 months
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

easy-to-use software that allows you to create simulations with precision, flexibility and...

Reviewed on 2018/06/19

It has been a very useful software in the subject of simulation and Models, especially in the units...

It has been a very useful software in the subject of simulation and Models, especially in the units of simulation of discrete models and in the units of study of tail systems, and events

Pros

Easy to use software that allows you to create simulations with precision, flexibility and speed. It allows simulation of events and also allows the creation of scenarios similar to reality, minimizing the risks associated with the administration of processes and projects. in addition, the creation of the simulation is done in the most simple and intuitive way possible, by the use of an explicit interface and the basic but efficient method of "drag-drop" to define the process. The user can run animated simulations very quickly without writing any line of code. And Simul 8 Professional plus all the features of the standard allow Customize the results, graphics and reports to show the KPIs (key performance indicators) that matter. Easily compare scenarios to make informed decisions. Realistic graphics Convert 2D models to 3D simulations with a simple click. Use photos and graphics known by your customers, or download from the large SIMUL8 image library, Optimize: save time and avoid errors using Optquest: it will show you the different scenarios and offer you the optimal solution. Share simulations "Viewer" allows you to share your simulations with clients or associates who do not have the full SIMUL8 license. Even more powerful with "Visual Logic" allows you to add complexities and nuances to your simulation in a way that reflects your real life system and processes. Other interfaces can be connected including Microsoft Excel, VBA, VB, and C ++.

Cons

Actually, as such, I do not have any disadvantage or feature that is not my taste, I think a very good software

Chris
Overall rating
  • Industry: Medical Devices
  • Company size: 1,001–5,000 Employees
  • Used Daily for 6-12 months
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Value for Money
  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

Assessment

Reviewed on 2021/09/22

My initial 6 months with using and learning the software has been nothing short of exceptional!
The...

My initial 6 months with using and learning the software has been nothing short of exceptional!
The customer support and development team have been incredibly helpful, skilled, and overly available to assist me during my initial learning phase.

Pros

Ease of use
Sophisticating modeling potential
Training resources
Sample models
1:1 Model development with knowledgeable developers

Cons

More updated standard graphics related to my industry - healthcare

ed
Overall rating
  • Industry: Higher Education
  • Company size: 10,000+ Employees
  • Used Daily for 2+ years
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Ease of Use
  • Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10

For the Student version - from U of T

Reviewed on 2019/07/02

Overall very good .... especially for simulation which hasd a rap of beeing complicated and hard to...

Overall very good .... especially for simulation which hasd a rap of beeing complicated and hard to understand..

I can get a class of 30 people from a zero knowledge base, to build, test and run a basic simulation in under 40 minutes. that is fast

Student experience is almost always very favourable ... some even find it slightly addictive!

Pros

Simplicity - visual nature and very Visio like in design and appearance makes it a natural fit with process analysis which for us starts with a Viso Flowchart

Cons

Use of Inter-arival time at work entry point.. I always find this trips up most people at first .. couldn't we just put another factor such as arrival rate .
Secondly adding or deleting lines in results manager is a pain.. I am starting to export to excel more and more

Sachin Dev
Sachin Dev
Overall rating
  • Industry: Hospital & Health Care
  • Company size: 10,000+ Employees
  • Used Daily for 1-5 months
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Ease of Use
  • Customer Support
  • Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10

Feedback of Simulation Modelling Experience using SImul8

Reviewed on 2022/09/23

Pros

I started using Simul8 as part of the dissertation project for my course to develop a demand and capacity model for a hospital in the UK. The software was user-friendly as we could quickly build a simulation model from the conceptual model. We could easily review the model, identify the patient flow, and understand the bottlenecks and constraints in the process. The validation process was faster by using the Visual representation in Simul8 as we could show the simulation run and see how the queue was increasing with the inflow of patients.

Cons

Using the Visual Logic part seems to be daunting at first as there was limited information online regarding the same. But the customer support team was kind enough to help us through the visual logic part

Ashley
Ashley
Overall rating
  • Industry: Information Technology & Services
  • Company size: 10,000+ Employees
  • Used for 1+ year
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Ease of Use
  • Likelihood to recommend 9.0 /10

Useful and Brilliant simulation product.

Reviewed on 2018/08/08

Outstanding simulation software particularly for simulating discrete models quickly and easily. It...

Outstanding simulation software particularly for simulating discrete models quickly and easily. It is not wrong to say this is proved to be the superb simulation package.

Pros

SIMUL8 Professional software is the fantastic software frequently used by a wide range of people. Easy to use and analyses results. Best software for creating simulation immediately based on the fascinating features like precision, flexibility and fluent speed. This software can be easily installed, downloaded and operated by anyone.

Cons

One of the cons of this software is that it lacks screen graphics and Annotations. Another limitation is that sometimes while using this software, operator travel link becomes corrupt creating difficulty for the users.

Remy
Overall rating
  • Industry: Hospital & Health Care
  • Company size: 10,000+ Employees
  • Used Monthly for 6-12 months
  • Review Source

Overall rating

  • Ease of Use
  • Likelihood to recommend 8.0 /10

Simulation for Pre-op Clinic Redesign

Reviewed on 2022/12/16

Overall it was great and will definitely be using when designing or redesigning hospital space in...

Overall it was great and will definitely be using when designing or redesigning hospital space in the future. I'll be moving to a new hospital and leading a team in the new year and will definitely be keeping this software in mind for use there!

Pros

My colleague drafted up various designs for remodeling our Pre-op clinic and was able to walk us through the pros and cons in a number of variables like patient wait time, count of patients waiting, anticipated overtime for clinic staff etc. It was great to be able to have this software to simulation redesigns like this. My past simulation experience is with Arena which was clunky in comparison and not as user friendly when setting up simulation designs as seen with my colleagues setup.

Cons

The reporting functionality was good but it looked like my colleague would have to manually add items to show up on the report as opposed to just providing all the information. This is really if I have to pick one con, it wasn't a big inconvenience.