Microsoft Visio™ Import

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• The visio import tool allows you to build models in Microsoft Visio™ and import them into Flexsim. Here's how you do it.

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• Drag objects from the Stencil into the model space to arrange their layout.

• Drag the A Port Connection object into the model to create a connection.

• The connection is made from the upper left point to the bottom right point. If you hook the connection backwards, the connection will be backwards in Flexsim.

• This is a connection that is only connected to the upstream object.

• Note: Do NOT connect the connection directly to the object. It must be connected to one of the blue points

• S port connections (center ports) are created in the same way as A port connections. The connection point in Visio that they are connected to does not make a difference in their order. Connecting S port connections to the blue connection points on the left and right is acceptable.

• Objects can be rotated and resized from Visio to resize and rotate objects in Flexsim.

Do not move the centroid point of the object when resizing. The centroid point is the green circle with a black point in its middle. It is used to define where the center of rotation is for that object. If you move it in Visio, the object will not be located correctly in Flexsim.

• This processor was rotated by clicking and dragging the rotation tool around one of its corner points.

• This queue has been resized by dragging its side point down using the selection tool .

• Objects can be renamed by double clicking on the object and typing in a new name.

• Each object in your model must have a unique name in order for it to be correctly imported into Flexsim. If objects are given the same name in Visio, their connections will not be created correctly in Flexsim. In the example below, the Transporters have the same name, so the Dispatcher was connected to the first one twice.

• Here is a nearly completed Visio page with a Flexsim layout.

• There are a few more things to check to be sure are correct before exporting it to Excel to import into Flexsim.

• And each object must be correctly formatted in this menu.

• The Name field contains the object’s class and a number separated by a period or just the object’s class. If there is a number, it must match the ID number or the object will not be correctly exported.

• Typically the objects do this naturally, but sometimes Visio will incorrectly name an object in this field.

• The example below shows what happens if the name is left as “Dispatcher.14” instead of changed to “Dispatcher.17”.

to export:• Go to the Tools > Macros > Visio Extras > Database Export to

export the file.

• Type a name into Table Name. This name will be typed again into Flexsim so that it knows which sheet to import from. Remember the name you typed and click Next.

• Enter a number into Number of Rows and Number of Columns that is larger than the number of rows and columns in the excel sheet that was just created by Visio Database Export. 50 is usually large enough.

• The model will then be imported. This may take a few minutes. Wait for the Visio Model Import window to close. Your model will then be imported into Flexsim.

• The model will then be imported. This may take a few minutes. Wait for the Visio Model Import window to close. Your model will then be imported into Flexsim.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!