Preventive what-if analysis in symbiotic simulation

The what-if analysis process is essential in symbiotic simulation systems. It is responsible for creating a number of alternative what-if scenarios and evaluating their performance by means of simulation. Most applications use a reactive approach for triggering the what-if analysis process. In this paper we describe a preventive triggering approach which is based on the detection of a future critical condition in the forecast of a physical system. With decreasing probability of a critical condition, using preventive what-if analysis becomes undesirable. We introduce the notion of a G-value and explain how this metric can be used to decide whether or not to use preventive what-if analysis. In addition, we give an example for a possible application in semiconductor manufacturing.