One of our simulation tools
ReliaSim®: line reliability simulation, built on our discrete rate work
When the question is which stop, buffer or speed change will recover the most output on a high-speed line, we often reach for ReliaSim. It comes from the same discrete rate method we started in 1990, rebuilt as a fast engine plant teams can run themselves.
What it does
Which fix recovers the most OEE?
ReliaSim models a line as it really runs: every machine's speed, its failures and micro-stops, the buffers between machines, and changeovers. Then it runs the line thousands of times, so you see the spread of outcomes, not only an average.
- Gain/loss by cause: how much output each stop costs you, and how much you would get back by fixing it. The two are often not the same.
- Buffer and speed studies: size accumulation and set machine speeds before you buy equipment.
- Perfect Production: the line's ceiling with no interruptions, so every loss has a baseline.
- Live-connected: the connection to your PLCs, MQTT or historian is ready to deploy on your systems.
Validated
Within 1% of measured OEE
In a study published at the 2020 Winter Simulation Conference, a discrete rate and reliability model of a food plant predicted OEE within 1% of what the plant measured.
L. B. Fischel and T. J. Lange, "High Accuracy Discrete Rate and Reliability Modeling to Drive Improvement of Plant OEE and Throughput," Proceedings of the 2020 Winter Simulation Conference. Read the paper.
Choosing the tool
When we use ReliaSim, and when we don't
We are tool agnostic. ReliaSim is one of the tools we know from the inside, next to ExtendSim and Plant Simulation.
ReliaSim®
High-speed packaging and filling lines where reliability drives output: which stops to fix first, buffer sizes, line speeds, OEE targets. Plant teams can run it after we hand it over.
ExtendSim
Custom logic, custom blocks and libraries, database-driven models, and plant or supply chain studies that need something built specifically for them.
Siemens Plant Simulation
Detailed discrete event models with 3D animation, especially when your engineering group already standardizes on Siemens.
Moving an existing ExtendSim or Plant Simulation line model? See our model migration guide, and ReliaSim's own guide to moving a model into ReliaSim.
Where it came from
Three generations of discrete rate
Andy Siprelle created bulk flow simulation in 1990, and SDI built the first commercial discrete rate libraries on Extend. The method later moved into ExtendSim's own rate engine. ReliaSim is the third generation: the same idea, rebuilt for speed and for people who run lines rather than simulations.
ReliaSim is a product of ChiAha, the company SDI spun off in 2024 to build software. SDI uses it in projects. You can try it, and license it, at reliasim.com.
- 1990s
First generation
Bulk flow simulation and the SDI Industry libraries on Extend.
- 2008
Second generation
ExtendSim's rate engine, solved with linear programming (Damiron & Nastasi, WSC 2008; Krahl, WSC 2009).
- Today
Third generation: ReliaSim®
Discrete rate plus reliability, fast enough to run a line thousands of times.
Tell us your problem
Want to know which stop is costing you the most?
Tell us about the line: speeds, stops and where product backs up. We'll tell you whether ReliaSim, ExtendSim or Plant Simulation fits the question.
- A straight answer on whether simulation is the right tool
- Which tool fits, even if it isn't one we use every day
- A rough scope and timeline, before any commitment