Software Reviews : Simscript Version II.5 Staff review Publisher: C.A.C.I.,Inc.,3344 North Torrey Pines Court,La Jolla,CA 92037 (telephone: [phone]) Year of Publication: 1985 Materials: Two program disks;sample data disk;introduction and user's manual;reference manual;programming language text;and two full-length textbooks with numerous examples;notes for a one quarter course;free enrollment in a SIMSCRIPT class;SIMSNIPS newsletter Price: $500 educational rate;$24,000 commercial package;free trial package available Machine Specificity: IBM PC,XT,or AT and other Intel 8086/88,80186/ 88,and 80286 machines;mainframe versions for IBM,CDC,DEC,Ho- neywell,Univac,Gould,Data General,NCR,and PRIME System Requirements;512K memory (640 recommended),math coprocessor,5 megabytes of free hard disk space;printer and plotter recommended Effectiveness: Excellent User-Friendliness : Good Documentation: Excellent

Abstract

Summary: This leading simulation package, in use for over two decades, is now being made available to educators at very low cost. It is currently in use at nearly 400 American universities, primarily in fields such as operations research, systems analysis, and industrial engineering. SIMSCRIPT has been widely used in military, industrial, space, energy, environmental, and transportation simulations. The package includes copious text materials for course use, the opportunity for the instructor to take a training course, availability of a technical hotline, and a user-oriented newsletter. Social scientists will find this package most useful for research or graduate-level courses centering on management issues such as analysis of queuing time, lag time, and other issues of flow of people, products, and services. Use of the package requires substantial learning time and acquisition of programming skills.