Full simulations of plasma discharges usually come at a high computational cost. The reason lies in the number of dimensions that need to be taken into account. Besides the temporal and spatial dimensions, the plasma-chemical dimension imposes high costs, due to the large number of interactions between a plethora of different species. Global plasma models are strongly depleted models that enable simulations to deliver results within minutes. This makes it possible to run simulations in parallel with experiments, yielding an augmented view of the plasma process. The Ionization Region Model is a global model with applications in high power impulse magnetron sputtering, a vacuum-based ionized physical vapor deposition technique used for depositing dense films. It was used to reveal trends in discharge characteristics as a function of principal process parameters, paving the way for a knowledge-based process development leading to shorter development cycles.