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Here you can find very robust applications of System Dynamics that have made a big impact in the real world. The successful applications demonstrate what final products in this field look like and how they are used by leaders and policy-makers to tackle serious challenges that other methods just cannot handle.
Find out more about how the projects were implemented, insights about the models, and links to related publications and people to contact for more information.
Moving Beyond the Threshold of System Dynamics: Thoughts for New Practitioners
I’ve heard students and colleagues say that learning system dynamics transformed their thinking–it gave them ways to understand complex problems in their field from a fresh perspective. “I can’t think any other way,” they’ll say....
General Motors OnStar
In 1997, System Dynamics was used to fundamentally re-design a business strategy for General Motor’s OnStar service. Through investments and policies suggested by modeling work, OnStar became the industry leader in vehicle telematics. The market value of OnStar is now in the billions. This remarkable success is almost entirely due to the effective application of System Dynamics.
Pharmaceutical Product Branding Strategies
This updated Second Edition of Pharmaceutical Product Branding Strategies details how marketers, forecasters, and brand planners can achieve optimal success by building internally consistent simulation models to project future behavior of patients, physicians, and R&D processes.
Polio Eradication
Our analysis provided “a nail in the coffin for the idea that there is a cheap and painless way out”. Since then, efforts have continued to focus on finding the resources needed to complete eradication and on dealing with the other complex challenges that remain. National and global health leaders and financial supporters have recommitted to completing eradication, and this has led to several hundreds of millions of dollars of resources.
Diabetes
The model simulations suggest four characteristic dynamics of the diabetes population: Obesity’s role in driving the growth of prediabetes and diabetes prevalence; the “backing up” phenomenon that may undercut the benefits of management and control efforts; management and control efforts alone are unable to reduce diabetes prevalence in the long term; delays between primary prevention efforts and downstream improvements in diabetes outcomes.
Project Management at Fluor
Fluor saves $1.3 billion in System Dynamics-based project management.
Process Innovation at Du Pont
Process Innovation at Du Pont Client Du Pont Authors/Consultants Repenning NP, Sterman JD Improvement programs such as Total Quality Management are embraced by many organizations but are often discontinued before full benefits can be reaped. With ever-increasing...
Criminal Justice
Client Ministry of Justice, the Netherlands Authors/Consultants Rouwette EAJA, Vennis JAM, Van Hooff P, Jongebreur W In 2003, Significant consulting and the Methodology group of Radboud University Nijmegen started a modeling project for the Ministry of Justice in the...
Maintenance Improvement at ONEgas
Maintenance Improvement at ONEgas Client ONEgas Authors/Consultants Venderbosch T, Rouwette E ONEgas is a company owned by Shell and NAM and is responsible for gas production in the Netherlands. This modeling effort focused on the maintenance process in ONEgas. The...
Sustainable Water Management in Laikipia District (Kenya)
Sustainable Water Management in Laikipia District (Kenya) Client CETRAD Author/Consultant Gallati J Sustainable management of natural resources is a vital concern in most countries and regions worldwide. In Laikipia District in Kenya, located at the foothill zone of...
Pharmaceutical Product Life-cycles
Pharmaceutical Product Life-cycles Client Anonymous Pharmaceutical Company Authors/Consultants Jones L (Ventana Systems UK) A leading global pharmaceutical company wanted to understand the interdependencies between resource levels and experience through the life-cycle...
Medical Device Company
Medical Device Company Name Medical Device Company Modeler Kim Warren Contact For more information on this case, please contact Kim Warren at Strategy Dynamics. Client ALK-Abello, Denmark Client Type Corporation The Issue You Tackled The company faces total loss of...
State Planning in Sarawak
State Planning in Sarawak Name State Planning in Sarawak Modeler Brian Dangerfield Client Sarawak State Planning Unit Client Type Government The Issue You Tackled The Centre for Operational Research & Applied Statistics at the University of Salford was awarded a...
Supply Chain Options in Pharmaceuticals
Supply Chain Options in Pharmaceuticals Client Anonymous pharmaceutical company Authors/Consultants Jones L (Ventana Systems UK) A global pharmaceuticals company wanted to evaluate future supply-chain options for a group of drug products. In a series of workshops held...
International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE)
INCOSE Name International Council on Systems Engineering Modelers Kim Warren Contact For more information on this case, please contact Kim Warren at Strategy Dynamics. Client International Council on Systems Engineering Client Type NGO The Official Website...
Urban Dynamics
Urban Dynamics Client UK local authorities Authors/Consultants Swanson J (Sdgworld; Steer Davies Gleave) The Urban Dynamic Model (UDM) is a simulation of how transport interacts with population, employment and land-use over long periods of time, typically ten years or...
Climate Change and Energy
Climate Change and Energy Client National Commission on Energy Policy, Environmental Defense Fund, WAI Authors/Consultants Bassi AM, Yudken JS Four industries – iron and steel, aluminum, paper and pulp, and chemicals – account for nearly half of the energy consumed by...
Energy Policy Analysis in Mauritius
Energy Policy Analysis in Mauritius Client Ministry of Renewable Energy and Public Utilities, Mauritius Authors/Consultants Bassi AM, Bainac K, Bokhoree C, Deenapanray P Under the leadership of the Ministry of Renewable Energy and Public Utilities of the Republic of...
Health and Social Care Policy in the UK
Health and Social Care Policy in the UK Client UK Government Authors/Consultants Wolstenholme E, Monk D, McKelvie D, Smith G In 2000, the British government initiated a National Health Services (NHS) program aimed at improving the quality of health care services. This...
Spatial Planning in Indonesia
Spatial Planning in Indonesia Client Ministry of Human Settlements and Regional Infrastructures Development, Indonesia Authors/Consultants Radianti J, Tasrif M, Rostiana E In pioneering spatial planning management for metropolitan cities, the Ministry of Human...
Monetary Policy in Colombia
Monetary Policy in Colombia Client Central Bank of Colombia Authors/Consultants Fernando Arenas and Franz Hamann The Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (Columbia) and the Central Bank of Colombia cooperated in an effort to recast the bank’s MTM (Mechanism of...
Logistics Support System for the US Coast Guard
Logistics Support System for the US Coast Guard Client US Coast Guard Author/Consultant Ellis RE The United States (US) coast guard has started the development of the Integrated Deepwater System, a large-scale system engineering effort to design the next generation...
National Airspace System
National Airspace System Client US Federal Aviation Administration Authors/Consultants Ventana Systems For the US Federal Aviation Administration, Ventana developed a comprehensive National Airspace System (NAS) Strategy Simulator. The simulator provides a framework...
Cement Industry Price Dynamics in Iran
Cement Industry Price Dynamics in Iran Client Cement Investment and Development Company Authors/Consultants Ghaffarzadegan N, Tajrishi AT The project was conducted from September 2005 to May 2006 for the Cement Investment and Development Company (CIDCO). CIDCO is a...
Medicare Payment Rate
Madicare Payment Rate Name How Medicare Payment Rate Reductions Will Affect Hospitals and Patients Modelers Jack Homer, Gary Hirsch Client/Participant Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Office of the Actuary (CMS/OACT) Client Type Government The Issue You...
HealthBound
HealthBound Name National Health System Reform Strategy Modelers Bobby Milstein, Jack Homer, Gary Hirsch Client/Participant Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Client Type Government The Issue You Tackled Proposals to improve the US health system are...
Obesity Population Dynamics
Obesity Population Dynamics Client Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Authors/Consultants Homer J, Milstein B, Dietz W, Buchner D, Majestic E A system dynamics simulation model was developed for understanding trends in obesity in the United States. Data...
Local Strategy for Chronic Disease Management and Prevention
Local Strategy for Chronic Disease Management and Prevention Client a large hospital in Washington State Authors/Consultants Homer J, Hirsch G, Minniti M, Pierson M Experts agree that the U.S. healthcare system is poorly organized to care for chronic illnesses and...
Hospital Surge Capacity Planning
Hospital Surge Capacity Planning Client Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), US Department of Health and Human Services Authors/Consultants Manley W, Homer J, Hoard M, Roy S, Furbee P, et al. A system dynamics model was developed to help hospitals...
Antibiotic Resistance Dynamics
Antibiotic Resistance Dynamics Client Texas Department of Health Authors/Consultants Homer J, Ritchie-Dunham J, Rabbino H, Puente L, Jorgensen J, Hendricks K Many common bacterial pathogens have become increasingly resistant to the antibiotics used to treat them. The...
Marketing Strategy for a New Cholesterol-Lowering Drug
Marketing Strategy for a New Cholesterol-Lowering Drug Client a large global pharmaceutical company (Sandoz, now Novartis) Author/Consultant Homer J This was the first of a series of models with Sandoz dealing with the positioning of new products in various...
Cocaine Use Prevalence Estimation and Policy Analysis
Cocaine Use Prevalence Estimation and Policy Analysis Client National Institute of Justice, US Department of Justice Author/Consultant Homer J A system dynamics model reproduces a variety of national indicator data reflecting cocaine use and supply over a 15-year...
Hardware Maintenance Field Service Dynamics
Hardware Maintenance Field Service Dynamics Client Major producer of diagnostic equipment used in semiconductor wafer fabrication Author/Consultant Homer J A system dynamics model to investigate field service issues was developed for a major producer of equipment for...
Strategies to Improve Freight Railroad Performance
Strategies to Improve Freight Railroad Performance Client a major freight railway company (CSX Transportation) Authors/Consultants Homer JB, Keane TE, Lukiantseva NO, Bell DW An SD model was developed to assist the company in strategic planning. Freight railroads in...
Analyzing Price Cycles in Commodity Chemicals
Analyzing Price Cycles in Commodity Chemicals Client a large global chemical company (Dow Chemical) Author/Consultant Homer J An SD model was developed to explain strong repeated price cycles in the chlor-alkali chemical market. A first version of the model was...
Projecting Motorcycle Parts and Accessories Sales
Projecting Motorcycle Parts and Accessories Sales Client a large US manufacturer of motorcycles Author/Consultant Homer J For planning and strategy purposes, the company needs to be able to project parts and accessories revenues several years into the future. These...
Managing the Inventory of Test Items used in Computer-Based Educational Testing
Managing the Inventory of Test Items used in Computer-Based Educational Testing Client Educational Testing Service (ETS), the world’s leading developer and provider of standardized educational tests Author/Consultant Homer J In the mid-1990s, ETS started a transition...
Haaglanden
Haaglanden Client Housing Market Authors/Consultants Eskinasi M, Rouwette E, Vennix J In Haaglanden, the Netherlands, during a particular swing of the housing market, construction of new greenfield residential suburbs suffered delays, whereas urban transformation of...
ReThink Health Dynamics
ReThink Health Dynamics Name Local Health System Reform Strategy Modelers Jack Homer, Gary B. Hirsch, Bobby Milstein, and Elliott S. Fisher Client/Participant Fannie E. Rippel Foundation (New Jersey) Client Type NGO ReThink Health: Simulation models supporting local...
Social Determinants of Health in a Diverse Urban Population
Social Determinants of Health in a Diverse Urban Population Name Wellesley Institute (Toronto) Authors/Consultant Mahamoud A, Roche B, Homer J Social determinants of health are important in shaping the health of urban populations in Canada. The low socio-economic...
The Organizational Responsibility Model for Public Companies
The Organizational Responsibility Model for Public Companies Name Brazilian state of Minas Gerais Authors/Consultant Passos GF, Chamovitz I, Theodoulidis B In order to sustain its fast growth in the future, Brazil is looking for a new engine that hinges on the...
Children’s Oral Health
Children’s Oral Health Name Exploring Prevention Strategies for Improving Children’s Oral Health Modelers Gary B. Hirsch, Burton Edelstein, Marcy Frosh, Jayanth Kumar. Client/Participant Childen’s DentalHealth Project, Colorado Department of Public Health and...
System Dynamics & Agent-Based approaches to face HR constraints
System Dynamics & Agent-Based approaches to face HR constraints Client Public ICT company localized in Minas Gerais, Brazil; Primary Hospital Localized in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil Authors/Consultant Guttenberg Ferreira Passos, Ilan Chamovitz, Babis Theodoulidis Case...
A Case Study in Strategic Human Resource Management
Strategic Human Resource Management Name A Case Study in Strategic Human Resource Management with System Dynamics Modelers Andreas Größler, Alexander Zock The Issue You Tackled The case-study company is a German service provider in the logistics industry that is the...
Are You vMad To Go For Surgery? Risk Assessment for Transmission of vCJD via Surgical Instruments
Are You vMad To Go For Surgery? Risk Assessment for Transmission of vCJD via Surgical Instruments Client UK Department of Health Authors/Consultant Stephen Curram, Jonathan Coyle, André Hare Case summary Although the prevalence of vCJD (a human form of “Mad Cow...
Keep on rolling – managing a large rail improvement project
Keep on rolling – managing a large rail improvement project Client London Underground Authors/Consultant Steve Curram, David Exelby, and Jocelyn Lovegrove Case summary The London Underground carries up to 4 million passengers a day, and required a major upgrade...
Data Center Capacity Planning
Data Center Capacity Planning Name Data Center Capacity Planning Modelers Kaveh Dianati Contact kaveh.dianati.15@ucl.ac.uk Client/Participant Telecomputing, Norway Client Type Corporation The Issue You Tackled TeleComputing, now called Visolit, is a leading provider...
Pushing the boundaries of marketing ROI at Coca-Cola
Pushing the boundaries of marketing ROI at Coca-Cola Client Coca-Cola Inc. Authors/Consultant Foresight Associates Case summary Marketers behind major brands look into consumer data to spot trends and craft possible futures. Their vision and strategy relies on a...
C-ROADS
C-ROADS Name Climate Rapid Overview And Decision Support Modelers John Sterman, Thomas Fiddaman, Travis Franck, Andrew Jones, Stephanie McCauley, Philip Rice, Elizabeth Sawin, and Lori Siegel Model To get the model, please follow this link. Client/Participant Please...
Prism
Prism Name Prevention Impacts Simulation Model (PRISM) Modelers Jack Homer, Kristina Wile, Gary Hirsch, Justin Trogdon, Amanda Honeycutt, Bobby Milstein, Diane Orenstein, and Lawton Cooper Client/Participant Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and...
Hugo Herrera
CASES KEEPER
Hugo Herrera cases@systemdynamics.org
The Cases Keeper is a Society volunteer who connects System Dynamics projects with our community. Key responsibilities include soliciting, receiving, assessing, and standardizing cases for publication on this website. The Cases Keeper reports to the VP Membership and works with the Society office. The length of the term is two years and appointment is made by the VP Marketing & Communications. Please feel free to ask any question you might have about the Case Repository.