Digital simulation of the effect of dispatching rules on the performance of a routine laboratory for structural analysis

Several output characteristics of a laboratory for structural analysis are shown to be identical with the output of a model of that laboratory, e.g. the histograms of the input and output density (samples/day), the histograms of the number of samples present in the laboratory, the histograms of the delays and several cross-correlations. The effect of various strategies concerning priorities between various groups of samples is forecast, e.g. samples with a different expected analysis time, samples from various sources, samples with a different history in the laboratory. The effects of the introduction of an adaptable routing procedure, several technician assignment decisions and strategies on the termination of the analysis are simulated.