Discrete Event Simulation (DES) is a method of simulation based on a combination of discrete events and queues. Typically, the simulation is in software and is custom coded for each individual simulation.
DES is best suited to refining and fine tuning existing processes involving events and queues.
Typical examples include medical services, banking and retail queues; security queues at airports; manufacturing processes involving multiple stages, supply chains, flow of data through computer networks.
Providing the situation can be adequately represented in terms of discrete events and queues, DES offers efficient simulation to improve designed outcomes.
A key benefit of DES is that once simulations are created, it enables relatively rapid testing of proposed changes to existing linear processes in terms of maximizing throughput.