This guide explains how to efficiently build, edit, and analyze models in ReliaSim using the graphical interface. It is intended for analysts, engineers, and operations teams who want to move quickly—from model creation to insight—using keyboard shortcuts, mouse gestures, and built-in visualization tools. By the end of this guide, you should be able to create a basic flow model, configure key parameters, and interpret core results such as throughput and efficiency.
When ReliaSim opens a new file, it starts you with a simple, valid flow: Buffer → Constraint → Buffer. Think of this as a clean baseline rather than a finished model. The first buffer represents an unlimited source of material entering your system, while the final buffer represents everything that leaves the process. Keeping these two buffers intact gives your model a clear beginning and end, which makes results like throughput, efficiency, and flow behavior easier to interpret as your model grows.
From here, begin shaping the middle of the flow to reflect how your process actually works. Replace the default constraint with the steps, equipment, or decisions that matter in your operation—whether that means adding additional constraints, buffers, splits, merges, or batch processes. As you build, focus on the logic of how material moves rather than exact numbers at first. Ask yourself where flow is limited, where material waits, and where it changes form. ReliaSim is most powerful when each node represents a meaningful part of the real system, not just a diagram element.
As you expand the model, continue to treat the first and last buffers as the bookends of the system. The first buffer should always represent everything that could possibly enter the process, and the final buffer should represent everything that successfully exits it. This structure allows ReliaSim to clearly measure what gets through the system and what holds it back. Once the structure feels right, you can begin refining rates, capacities, and interruptions—knowing that the overall flow from start to finish remains well-defined and ready for analysis.
Following this sections are a collection of tools and tables to help you reference and utilize all the options ReliaSim has to offer. Early models don't need perfect data to be useful. ReliaSim is designed to help you understand flow behavior first—where material queues, where it's constrained, and how changes ripple through the system. You can always refine rates, capacities, and interruptions later. Your own process data will validate when your model closely matches your process. Most models evolve through iteration. It's common to adjust structure, swap node types, and refine assumptions as insights emerge. ReliaSim is built to support this kind of exploration.