The production and logistics modeling team is advancing the practice and adoption of formal system modeling and model-based systems engineering methodologies in development and operations of production and logistics systems. Specific challenges in providing a foundation to production and logistics [systems] engineering discipline are the lack of:

• Standard reference models
• Well-structured engineering design methodologies
• Integrated analysis models and tools available to support design and operational decision-making.

The purpose of this modeling challenge team is to increase the availability of reference models, awareness of these models and methods, and successful use of MBSE within the production, logistics, and industrial engineering communities.

The systems of interest are discrete event logistics systems (DELS). They can be described as:

• Structure: a network of resources, arranged in a facility; each resource has one or more processing capabilities that have a (maximum) capacity;
• Behavior: a set of products flow through the network and are transformed by processes executed by the resources; a process may require the capabilities of multiple resources; a transformation can change location, age, or condition of a product.

These systems include, but are not limited to:

• supply chains,
• production & manufacturing systems,
• transportation networks,
• warehouses,
• and health care delivery systems.

The adjective “discrete” recognizes the nature of the products, flows, and processes. Products are discrete units, e.g., individual product units or components of product units, or batches of product units, flowing through the network separately. Processes have well-defined start and end times, e.g., the start of a machining or heat-treating process and completion of same, even though our knowledge of the well-defined time may be uncertain. The scope of team activities is broad, covering almost all aspects of DELS. It might be narrowed and/or broken into smaller projects and outcomes based on the interest of team members. The scope can be defined along three axes:

• System Lifecycle Integration: conceive, design, realize, service, retire (SeBoK)
• Enterprise Integration: Process Control, SCADA, MOM, & ERP. (ISA-95 hierarchy).
• Product Lifecycle: procurement, manufacture, sustainment, retirement. (SCOR: Source, Make, Deliver, Return)