Abstract
Screening simulation experiments is intended to eliminate unimportant factors from a simulation model. It usually results in a short list of important factors, so that effort may be concentrated upon this list. Sequential bifurcation (SB) procedure, developed by Bettonvil and Kleijnen [1], is a screening method that has proved to be efficient and effective. In this study, the SB procedure is used to determine the most important factors of the port of Alexandria, Egypt simulation model. Sixteen out of 44 factors are considered important. In addition, Cioppa [2] procedure is used to verify that the assumed unimportant factors by the SB procedure are really unimportant. This procedure is used to confirm that the suspected non-influential (unimportant) factors do not significantly affect the response output of interest. This procedure emphasized that the set of unimportant factors determined by the SB procedures is really unimportant. (Received in November 2009, accepted in March 2010. This paper was with the authors 1 month for 1 revision.)