This document outlines a FlexSim simulation model of an airport security checkpoint. The base model contains one metal detector and x-ray scanner, resulting in average wait times of 80 minutes. An alternative model with two scanners significantly reduces average wait time to 5 minutes while increasing passenger throughput by 67% and luggage throughput by 11%. While the dual scanner model improves performance, the low passenger volume may not justify the increased operating costs compared to the benefits.

1. SNHU
Final Project
Milestone 3
Heather Moore
3/23/2014
The following document outlines the creation of a 3D FlexSim simulation model. The model is a mock-up
of an airport security checkpoint that is looking for ways to speed up wait times and still thoroughly
check passengers for weapons and unapproved items.

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Table of Contents
Executive Summary........................................................................................................................ 2
Problem formulation....................................................................................................................... 3
Description of simulation........................................................................................................ 3
Problem situation .................................................................................................................... 3
What-if questions.................................................................................................................... 3
Base model and alternative models................................................................................................. 6
Input analyses.................................................................................................................................. 7
Verification and Validation............................................................................................................. 8
Calculation of number of runs ........................................................................................................ 9
Output analyses............................................................................................................................. 10
Cost-benefit analysis..................................................................................................................... 10
Summary....................................................................................................................................... 11
Figures
Figure a - OFD Model 1.................................................................................................................. 4
Figure b - OFD Model 2 ................................................................................................................. 5
Figure c - Base Model..................................................................................................................... 6
Figure d - Alternative Model .......................................................................................................... 7
Figure e - Comparison of the two models....................................................................................... 9
Figure f - Average Staytime for Scanner 1 Model.......................................................................... 9
Figure g - Average Staytime for Scanner 2 Model....................................................................... 10

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Executive Summary
The project required the creation of a real-world problem in FlexSim’s 3D simulation
software. We were to create a situation that we could demonstrate an issue and find a solution.
My model is an airport security check-point where the waiting time to go through the scanner
was excessive and needed to be shortened to ensure passengers reached their gate on time. The
first model demonstrated the wait times and flow of one metal detector and x-ray scanner while
the second model demonstrated the use of two metal detectors and x-ray scanners. The wait
times decreased a significant amount with the second model.

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Problem formulation
Description of simulation
The simulation I am going to create is the security checkpoint at an airport. There will be
multiple scanners for luggage and people going through the checkpoint. Depending on the
number of people going to the gates will affect how busy or slow the checkpoint becomes. Some
passengers will not pass the initial security scan and will have to continue to the manual search
area to be cleared. This will affect overall time in the check-point which will slow down the
flow.
Problem situation
There are long lines of passengers going through the security checkpoint. The long waits
are causing people to be late for their flights. There needs to be a solution determined for
speeding up the lines but still maintaining the security of all passengers.
What-if questions
What if there was more than one scanner location for the passengers to move through?

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System and simulation specification
Object Flow Diagrams
Figure a - OFD Model 1

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Figure b - OFD Model 2

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Base model and alternative models
Figure c - Base Model
The base model contains one metal detector scanner and one x-ray scanner for luggage.
Processing passengers through the metal detector is causing long wait times of about 80 minutes.
This is causing passengers to be late or miss their flights due to the long wait times. The base
model also has a manual search area for those passengers who are picked for further screening.
Currently the metal detector takes anywhere between 10 to 25 minutes to scan a passenger. If
they are selected for further scanning then they are sent to the manual scan station where it can
take another 5 to 20 minutes to process them.
The passenger’s luggage must go through an x-ray scanner that takes between 3 to 10
minutes to scan. If the content doesn’t pass the x-ray scan then it is moved to the manual search
area to be further inspected by the security. The manual search for the luggage takes between 5
to 10 minutes to be searched. The average wait time for the manual scan area is about 10 minutes
long.

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Figure d - Alternative Model
The alternative model contains double the metal detectors and x-ray machines for faster
processing. The amount of time it takes to scan each person and luggage is the same for each
scanner but now there are two scanners doing the same amount of work as previously there was
only one. I anticipate that this will speed up the process time significantly.
Input analyses
The model runs a 16 hour day (960 minutes) to account for the airport being open from
7:00am to 11:00pm daily. There are two separate flow items created one that represents
passengers and the other that represents their luggage. Passengers were assigned item number 1
and luggage was assigned item number 2. These item numbers help control the flow of where
each is processed when going through the screening checkpoint. Each passenger is also randomly
assigned a shirt color to help tell each person apart and watch them flow through the model.
In the base model I originally had the queue send to port based on expression which sent
item 1 to port 1 and item 2 to port 2. The manual scan queue is still set this way but I quickly
realized this was not going to work for the alternative model’s first queue where there were more
ports so I was able to pull into the processor the relevant flow item by changing the setting for

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Input under the Flow tab of the processor. This ensures that the passengers are going through the
metal detector and the luggage is going through the x-ray scanner. The processor then randomly
chooses weather to send the item to the manual scan queue or the corresponding sink. Once
processed through the manual scan all items flow to the sink.
The processor times were determined by taking into account that some people walk
slower, have trouble taking off their shoes, or loading their luggage on the x-ray scanner
therefore the times ranged from 10 to 25 minutes. The luggage processor was place at 3 to 10
minutes of time for the operator to scan the luggage. This time takes into consideration that some
bags will be packed more than others making it harder to fully x-ray. Both the manual search
processors were set to process items between 5 to 20 minutes so that the operator had time to
fully search the luggage or passenger if there were questions about what they were taking on the
plane.
Verification and Validation
I followed three sets of data to determine if the alternative model had better results than the
base model. The main one was the average wait time of the first queue in the check-point. This
showed a significant amount of time passengers were waiting to go through security. I also
tracked the number passengers and the number of luggage that was processed overall. This
showed that there were only about 55 people being processed through the security check-point
over the course of 16 hours. After adding the second check-point scanners the number of people
almost doubled.

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Figure e - Comparison of the two models
Calculation of number of runs
Using the Simulation Experimenter tool I monitored the variable for Max Wait Time on the
first queue in the sequence.
Figure f - Average Staytime for Scanner 1 Model

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Figure g - Average Staytime for Scanner 2 Model
Output analyses
What if there was more than one scanner location for the passengers to move through?
With the addition of a second scanning area the wait time decreased by 94%. This
significantly saves the passengers time when trying to catch their plane. There was also a 67%
increase in the number of passengers that were processed through the entire check-point. Lastly
the processed luggage was increased by 11%. Overall the addition of a second security scanning
area increased numbers across the board.
Cost-benefit analysis
My models did not look at the cost of running each security check-point. The second model
Airport Security Model Avg Wait Time
Passengers
Processed
Luggage
Processed
Scanner 1 95.84 55 98
Scanner 2 5.78 92 109
Totals 94% 67% 11%

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would definitely cost more to run due to the increase in operating staff and extra machines.
Although looking at the number of passengers that went through on one work day it doesn’t
seem like the cost of running two scanners would be worth it for the number of passengers who
are traveling through the airport. Now if I had setup the sources differently to allow an increase
in the throughput of passengers this might be a better solution.
Summary
I learned a great deal by creating this model. I was able to apply what I had learned
during the course to my models to achieve the results I had envisioned. There is still a lot that I
could have incorporated into my models but I found many of the tutorials to be lacking in
explanation of how to use the system and how to manipulate the data to create the model I
wanted. I am really happy with the final result though. I have to admit at first I didn’t think I
would be able to successfully complete the final project.