Risk Reduction – The Virtual System or Machine Model

The concept of industry 4.0 ever more eliminates the static assignment between production systems and products. This has an impact on all processes, because when working in a digital functional chain from planning, engineering, and commissioning to operation, and modernization, you can use the same data and models at each point.

For ten years, Heitec has been developing cross-tool interfaces and qualified field-proven technology objects that bring planning simulation closer to reality. "We are convinced that the use of digital technology construction kits will increasingly dominate systems and machine planning in the future," explains Heitec's sale manager Gerhard Stich. Here again, the automotive industry plays a pioneering role. "Tested quality is created not only because the virtual model allows the processes and cycle times to be shown exact to the second, but also because the software can be qualified and validated in the project."

The essential difference compared to conventional simulation is the application of advanced engineering methods already at the digital planning stage, and the uncomplicated use of the stored information. The digital twin, i. e. the equivalent of the real system, is based on technology objects into which all available information from systems already used for production is incorporated.

The virtual system or machine model visualizes the result of the planning, and hence reduces the risk of mistaken investments. Faults in planning, design, or software are detected at an early stage. This allows the correct action to be taken before the system is built fraud with faults. Subject to the availability of the appropriate technical equipment, the virtual models can incorporate all available information of the real system, such as order data, quality data, malfunction, etc. The systematic acquisition of all relevant data in production allows the production of the last shift, or of the last few days, to be modeled in the digital twin. Based on the results of the analysis, all bottlenecks of the production system can be detected, and problems that occur sporadically can be analyzed. Using the knowledge gained, pertinent measures can then be tested on the virtual model without any risk. The introduction of new products to production can likewise be tested on the virtual model with the help of the CAD data without standstill of the real system.

Added Value by Software
Author: Gerhard Stich, HEITEC AG
Copyright: VDMA 2017

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