Combining an expert system with simulation to enhance planning for banking networks

Abstract

This application paper shows how bankers who are planning to operate a local electronic funds transfer (EFT) network can use simulation and an expert system to improve their EFT decisions. The key to making good EFT decisions is understanding the tradeoffs between the costs and performance of different network possibilities. Being able to explore network choices in light of a bank's service and profit goals, prior to the actual commitment of resources, is essential to that understanding. However, there are no published EFT studies which attempt to combine both technical and economic con cerns, particularly the representation of intangible benefits and costs, in a single methodology. The simulation process de scribed here illustrates a computer model that approximates the performance and economics of alternative local EFT designs. Expert system technology is incorporated to give bankers the convenience of interacting with the model in a natural language format. It should be noted that the work described here is based on the author's current research and ongoing model development for client banks. Every attempt is made to be as informative as possible without breaching confidentiality.

Automatic Code Generation for Simulating Information Systems

“…This motivates efforts to develop methods for making the simulation process easier, such as by the automation of certain tasks. Different approaches for aiding simulation model building in various application areas have been introduced [2,3,13,14,15,16,17,18,19]. They are mainly in the form of simulators which are very domain-specific and restricted to specified system configurations [20].…”

“…Simulation is a problem solving technique widely applied for checking performance requirements, resource utilization, and efficiency of systems within a specific resource environment in the analysis and design of information systems [1,2,3,4,5]. However, developing and implementing a simulation model for an information system (IS) are not simple tasks.…”

Using simulation to predict system performance: a case study of an electro‐phoretic deposition plant

“…Expert systems [16][17][18][19] are a relatively new development in the simulation field. Here, simulation uses a knowledge database to obtain various system variables to run the simulation.…”

Knowledge-based model construction for simulating information systems

“…In addition, an IS may be configured in several ways, with each configuration having varying performance and cost. The simulation of these configurations helps in understanding and evaluating the tradeoffs between performance and cost [13]. Simulation can also aid in the design of IS [35].…”