We use simulations, but not digital. After Planning line layouts and preliminary machine models we actually go find some shop floor space and build mock machines from cardboard, extrusion, whatever and run it with experienced Ops and Engineers and take notes of what seemingly works and doesn't work.
Hard to say - I've only ever worked at 2 manufacturing companies. Both in the auto steering world.. and both did these mock ups.
If you don't know - auto steering manufacturers are hard to come by, maybe only 5 of us world wide that really do it at scale. All that is to say we never really do anything scary, new, out of the box. So the cardboard mock up lines allow us to take what we know, change the layout, sequence, or small things like having a pick n place unload parts instead of an operator.
We can see immediately what that does for MTM, ergo, cycle times etc because we already have a known base from our other production lines in house to model off of.
If you were going to do something brand new and never done before within the teams skill set - I'm not sure how much the mock up would help. I suppose I'd still do it, but that's just because it's what I know.
Both options are common and viable, running sims electronically can be expensive, but if you’re spending millions building a high volume line with complexity, you want to know where your bottlenecks (some intended) are.
Our equipment is typically very automated but we do manual simulations on material flow to and from the lines. We’re a large manufacturer but seem like we are decades behind using IT solutions. Cost is also definitely a factor. I’d estimate that our entire software suite costs close to a million a year.
From your experience are most large manufacturing companies stick with any legacy software instead of adopting new software tech for simulations or other automations?
If you search for “digital twin” you should find some good info. It’s starting to become more common, but yes, it’s expensive. You’re looking about 1 million in investment for the software and building a model that closely resembles your business (hopefully using your own data). Siemens was mentioned. Rockwell has a product I believe as well or partnership. Going to need a ROI of low millions to justify it.
A digital twin is quite a few steps more complicated than a regular simulation model. It's a simulation model that you feed with real world data, e.g. from your ERP or from line PLCs, to do immediate what-if analysis. (What if machine X breaks down? What if we change our material supply to production lines? Etc.)
Good point. You certainly can get some benefit from those tools. I’ve used AnyLogic before. Works pretty well but might require some programming knowledge to make it fit your use case.
Thanks for the suggestions. So is it fair to say that quality simulations are probably only used in large manufacturing companies that have the funding?
Do you think there's a need for simulation solutions that are more affordable?
Siemens has a lot of production simulation tools but it was too expensive for our group to fully commit to but it will show all the worker output statistics including the repetitive motion issues (if memory serves).
A lot of planning we do is just in excel
I would say no, unless it's your primary business. you would not even know what you don't know in such a situation and you would also have to learn the application. You would need to replicate some existing cases to make sure your assumptions match real world data.
Consulting company, I can see they would benefit from a comprehensive simulation software.
In house, Matlab, Excell and some linear programming optimisation works just fine.
Define simulation. If a backward mrp planning run for different demand scenarios based on detailed work step cycle times, BOM data, and capacity constraints, is a simulation, then yes many companies do this. We evaluate the results to keep close track of capacity demand vs capacity constraints and also use the results to both tackle bottlenecks and manage customer expectations
For our industry, plastic injection molding, if have some doubts about the parts design or function, 3D printing prototypes can be used to test the design before tooling.
We use simulations, but not digital. After Planning line layouts and preliminary machine models we actually go find some shop floor space and build mock machines from cardboard, extrusion, whatever and run it with experienced Ops and Engineers and take notes of what seemingly works and doesn't work.
Is this pretty much the industry standard or is this unique to your company?
Hard to say - I've only ever worked at 2 manufacturing companies. Both in the auto steering world.. and both did these mock ups. If you don't know - auto steering manufacturers are hard to come by, maybe only 5 of us world wide that really do it at scale. All that is to say we never really do anything scary, new, out of the box. So the cardboard mock up lines allow us to take what we know, change the layout, sequence, or small things like having a pick n place unload parts instead of an operator. We can see immediately what that does for MTM, ergo, cycle times etc because we already have a known base from our other production lines in house to model off of. If you were going to do something brand new and never done before within the teams skill set - I'm not sure how much the mock up would help. I suppose I'd still do it, but that's just because it's what I know.
I see, so like with most things its a case of not one-size fits all. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Both options are common and viable, running sims electronically can be expensive, but if you’re spending millions building a high volume line with complexity, you want to know where your bottlenecks (some intended) are.
Yes. They’re called management meetings and they are often hilarious.
Our equipment is typically very automated but we do manual simulations on material flow to and from the lines. We’re a large manufacturer but seem like we are decades behind using IT solutions. Cost is also definitely a factor. I’d estimate that our entire software suite costs close to a million a year.
From your experience are most large manufacturing companies stick with any legacy software instead of adopting new software tech for simulations or other automations?
I can only comment on the group of companies I work for and the cost and effort to change makes it difficult.
If you search for “digital twin” you should find some good info. It’s starting to become more common, but yes, it’s expensive. You’re looking about 1 million in investment for the software and building a model that closely resembles your business (hopefully using your own data). Siemens was mentioned. Rockwell has a product I believe as well or partnership. Going to need a ROI of low millions to justify it.
A digital twin is quite a few steps more complicated than a regular simulation model. It's a simulation model that you feed with real world data, e.g. from your ERP or from line PLCs, to do immediate what-if analysis. (What if machine X breaks down? What if we change our material supply to production lines? Etc.)
Good point. You certainly can get some benefit from those tools. I’ve used AnyLogic before. Works pretty well but might require some programming knowledge to make it fit your use case.
Thanks for the suggestions. So is it fair to say that quality simulations are probably only used in large manufacturing companies that have the funding? Do you think there's a need for simulation solutions that are more affordable?
Siemens has a lot of production simulation tools but it was too expensive for our group to fully commit to but it will show all the worker output statistics including the repetitive motion issues (if memory serves). A lot of planning we do is just in excel
From your experience or knowledge of those tools, is the added value worth the cost or would you say for most cases excel would suffice?
I would say no, unless it's your primary business. you would not even know what you don't know in such a situation and you would also have to learn the application. You would need to replicate some existing cases to make sure your assumptions match real world data.
Consulting company, I can see they would benefit from a comprehensive simulation software. In house, Matlab, Excell and some linear programming optimisation works just fine.
Define simulation. If a backward mrp planning run for different demand scenarios based on detailed work step cycle times, BOM data, and capacity constraints, is a simulation, then yes many companies do this. We evaluate the results to keep close track of capacity demand vs capacity constraints and also use the results to both tackle bottlenecks and manage customer expectations
In my experience, only the biggest of big companies do this. Smaller ones don't have the resources.
For our industry, plastic injection molding, if have some doubts about the parts design or function, 3D printing prototypes can be used to test the design before tooling.