This research has yielded a novel method of logistic control in simulations that could be applied within any discrete event simulation. Any manufacturing business operating a job shop or focused factory environment could use this approach to study its own operations, and how they are affected by the demands of customers, or uncertainty within the business or its upstream supply network.

Because the new method of achieving logistic control reduces the time required for model development and validation, simulation studies of this kind may become increasingly attractive to smaller businesses such as third tier aerospace industry suppliers.

The layout in which a manufacturing business conducts its operations provides a useful guide as to whether a simulation of this kind can be applied. It works well for job shops and focused factories, but cannot really be applied in a continuous manufacturing scenario (for example a petrochemical facility: logistic control is largely unnecessary here, providing the facility can be kept supplied with raw materials), a high-volume flowline (operation cycle times are closely matched, and product variance is minimal), or a project layout (where people and other resources go to the product itself, e.g. shipbuilding). For other industries, where variety and uncertainty are the norm, the approach remains highly relevant.

The chart below summarises the applicability of the various types of production facility to the systems of logistic control that have been discussed within these pages: