Digital assembly in production.
In order to achieve a high share of value added in the future and thus secure locations and jobs, productivity and agility in production must be constantly increased, transparency and traceability of all processes continuously improved and costs reduced. Industrial companies can only succeed in adapting to the growing market volatility and withstanding the constantly increasing competitive pressure in this way.
The introduction of highly intelligent products, tools and assistance systems, which enable production in “batch size 1” with a high variety of variants, as well as the efficient planning, control and optimization of all processes, are the basic prerequisites for achieving these overriding objectives.
RISC Software GmbH, together with its industrial partners BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co KG, ABF-Industrielle Automation GmbH and S&T Technologies GmbH, as well as its research partner FH OÖ Forschungs & Entwicklungs GmbH, is dedicated to these challenges in the research project DigiMont: Digital Assembly – a first step for “Lot Size 1,” sponsored by the State of Upper Austria.
Digital assembly in batch size 1
Project results are concepts and solution approaches for a digital assembly in which all systems are networked, intelligent products, tools and assistance systems are used, and different processes are simulated, optimized and visualized so that production in “batch size 1” is possible.
A key factor here is the coordination of the product sequence so that all workstations are equally utilized. The DigiMont project contributes to greater transparency, agility and cost optimization in production and also ensures networking between science and industry.
The focus of RISC Software GmbH in DigiMont is on the simulation of manufacturing processes with the simulation tool easy2sim developed by RISC. The development of new library components enables a complete and real illustration of the complete processes, as well as an evaluation of the calculated results of the optimization. Through simulation-supported planning and optimization, cost optimization can be guaranteed, resulting in energy and resource efficiency. The integration of new software technologies enables demand-oriented, customer-specific production (order-related) in “batch size 1” and thus creates the prerequisite for prompt delivery of the products with the lowest inventory.
Challenges in the age of Industry 4.0
Conversions in Industry 4.0 are fundamentally risky, especially when intelligent products or controls complement existing processes. The technical feasibility and the interaction of Big Data, virtual assembly, simulation, mathematical optimization and assistance systems is subject to a high risk with regard to data quality and performance. This involves working with large amounts of continuous data from heterogeneous systems that have to be processed in real time.
With the simulation program easy2sim, logistic processes for planning, evaluation and optimization can be mapped. Material flows can be displayed within just a few hours, enabling an improved overview and identification of bottlenecks. Performance information provided already during the planning phase allows an exact cost calculation and an early validation and improvement of the processes. By optimizing the parameters, it is possible, for example, to minimize storage costs or maximize throughput. easy2sim also offers valuable support in the area of training and evaluation of failure scenarios. RISC Software GmbH also offers model creation as a service so that companies without simulation experience can also benefit from easy2sim.
In recognition of the strong innovative power of easy2sim, RISC Software GmbH was awarded the IT Innovation Prize in the INDUSTRY & LOGISTICS category. The simulation tool particularly convinced the jury in the top group of more than 2,500 submitted applications.
