Manufacturing systems simulation

Manufacturing system simulation is the process of creating and using a digital model or virtual representation of a real-world industrial system, such as machines, production cells or lines, process plants, factories or logistics facilities. The simulation allows engineers to evaluate and optimize designs and perform virtual commissioning. Additionally, end users of the industrial systems can leverage the digital twin of systems to optimize their production or train workers and operators. Overall, manufacturing system simulation helps companies improve productivity, reduce costs and make more informed decisions by providing a risk-free environment to experiment with various configurations and strategies before implementation.

Industrial systems simulation is a powerful solution that can benefit various industries, including:

• Automotive: Helps expedite launches and line-changeovers and maximize resilience in the face of shifting demands and manufacturing disruptions.
• Industrial machinery: Helps design and validate complex industrial systems such as production lines, ensuring seamless integration and maximizing efficiency.
• Pharma: Enables scale-up and tech transfer by predicting product quality attributes in commercial-scale equipment based on lab-scale data, and helps perform virtual commissioning to ensure proper functioning of the automation design.

Manufacturers tend to face certain challenges when implementing an industrial systems engineering solution, such as the complexity of integrating multiple systems, the need for specialized expertise, high upfront costs and the resistance to change existing workflows. Overcoming these challenges requires a well-planned and phased approach, strong support from leadership and effective change management strategies.

However, the transition period required to overcome these common challenges is worth the significant benefits of implementing an industrial systems simulation solution. Audi Hungary achieved added engineering value by switching from 2D to 3D models for manufacturing simulation, along with three main benefits: a surge in model value, faster project approval and acceptance and a significant performance boost.

Our industrial systems simulation solution is open and interoperable. Its modular portfolio includes the integration of Siemens automation equipment and facilitates co-simulation and communication with third-party systems (such as component behavior models, simulation tools or software-based management systems) through import/export capabilities and APIs.

Industrial systems simulation solutions can predict the behavior of industrial systems with high accuracy. The solutions incorporate digital twin modeling by integrating real-time data, physics-based models and simulation techniques to create a virtual representation of the physical asset. This includes simulating the dynamic behavior, interactions and performance characteristics of the physical system. Simulation software focuses on analyzing and predicting the behavior of the system based on underlying physics principles. Siemens offers the most comprehensive digital twin which, together with simulation, plays a crucial role in bridging the gap between the real and digital worlds.