Tech Briefs Magazine - January 2023 - 16

Optimizing Supply Chains
Equipment with sensors feeds real-time data back to the twin model to confirm outcomes and establish a new baseline
for the next series of experiments and improvements. (Image: Dassault Systèmes')
bottlenecks and improve efficiency.
In a virtual twin environment, these
production changes are swift and
trouble-free, and downtime is minimized.
Equipment with sensors feeds
real-time data back to the twin model
to confirm outcomes and establish
a new baseline for the next series of
experiments and improvements. Even
workers themselves can be equipped
with sensors and represented in the
virtual twin to view movements within
the facility for improved safety
and productivity.
One company to realize the benefits
of digitally simulating its shop floor is
the Canadian industrial automation
company CenterLine (Windsor) Limited,
which produces automated welding
and assembly lines, and needed a
way to address design errors and reduce
worker accidents prior to installing
these highly complex manufacturing
systems.
CenterLine began virtually simulating
its products, processes, and
factory operations before installing
their complex robotic work cells, optimizing
their placement for product
flow, worker ergonomics and
overall plant efficiency. This proactive
virtual layout resulted in a 90
percent reduction in tooling-related
problems, a 75 percent drop-in
16
programming time, and shortened
their overall time to market by nearly
20 percent.
A virtual twin of the manufacturing
floor also enables businesses to digitally
reconfigure operations if the need for a
quick pivot emerges (e.g., shifting from
makeup application brushes to nasal
swabs) and the right layout can be simulated
and finalized before making any
physical moves.
A Holistic View of the Virtual
Supply Chain
The biggest challenges for the industrial
sector continue to revolve around
the supply chain, and the downstream
effects caused by delays and uncertainty.
To meet modern demands, the
manufacturing sector can no longer
allow a divide in the production innovation
process between manufacturers
and their suppliers, as it creates a visibility
gap that leaves companies far
too slow to respond to supply chain
disruptions.
A dynamic virtual twin can extend
visibility beyond the walls of the manufacturer
to capture the real-time location
and status of all physical assets
from third-party suppliers around the
world. Starting from the warehouse
or even from raw material producers,
manufacturing managers will have a
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view of inventory
on-hand, in-transit
or unexpectedly delayed,
enabling timely
adjustments that
produce a more resilient
supply chain.
With a virtual twin,
manufacturers can
also train for disruptions
of any size by
simulating " what if "
changes - from supply
chain disruption
to workforce availability
- and determine
how this affects the
manufacturing process.
Operators can
simulate the crisis
conditions of a sudden
drop-off in supply,
create contingency
plans for an agile
response, and examine
the steps required
to return to " normal "
while also addressing
pent-up demand. Or businesses can
simply look at any number of day-to-day
interactions with their supplier network,
and test more efficient plans that result
in zero delays to work orders based on
dynamic changes to multiple conditions.
When data from product design environments
is paired with real-world data
from the manufacturing facility and
supply chain, that organization will have
achieved an end-to-end fully digital model
of the entire product lifecycle. That
level of visibility is the Holy Grail for any
business that succeeds or fails based on
optimizing the smallest details.
By visualizing the data aggregated
from the production line, manufacturing
equipment, people, and processes in
a dynamic virtual twin, product design is
accelerated and collaborative, production
processes are optimized, shop floors
are streamlined, and sprawling supply
chains can be monitored and stress-tested
on a comprehensive dashboard. This
moment of recovery from a sector-wide
crisis is the best time to invest in the digital
manufacturing technologies to future-proof
your business.
This article was written by Adrian
Wood, DELMIA Strategic Business Development
and Marketing Director,
Dassault Systèmes' (Waltham, MA). For
more information, visit www.3ds.com.
Tech Briefs, January 2023

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Tech Briefs Magazine - January 2023

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