In this paper, implementation of a simulation system for flexible manufacturing cells (FMC) based on a local area network is outlined. Four sets of IBM‐compatible PC's are used to represent the machines in an FMC, which consists of a CNC milling machine, a CNC lathe, an industrial robot, two pallet stands and a cell controller. One PC is used as the cell controller. Two PC's are used as simulators of the milling machine and the lathe. Real‐time graphic animations of tool paths are produced according to the scheduled part programs. The fourth PC simulates the loading and unloading tasks of the robot. The control softwares for the workstations are obtained from the control goal diagrams, which are derived from the system event graph by decomposition. All events which occurred in the simulation are viewed in graphic images. Upon completion of the simulation, a statistical performance report is produced.