Simulating manufacturing processes

Manufacturing has undergone a drastic change during the last two decades – driven in part by advancing globalization. Worldwide competition motivates manufacturing companies in their quest for the highest manufacturing quality, lowest production costs, and shortest development and delivery times as part of continuous improvement processes. Last, but not least, competition motivates the targeted hunt for the next product innovation.
 

Process simulation

The increasing precision and reliability of simulation results, shorter and more practical calculation times – due to stronger hardware and more efficient software – and the improved usability of simulation software, have all contribute to the spread of process simulation.

Process simulation has proven itself in production and is replacing experience-based, analog methods. It can be used to transfer the practical trials into the virtual world of a computer with the goal of providing an exact prediction while comprehensively considering all relevant process parameters in manufacturing, effectively reducing expensive and time-consuming practical trials to a minimum.

Simulation has lost its label as a freak tool, or as a tool only used experimentally. The methods and products have matured to the point that manufacturers are adopting a “simulate first, then produce” philosophy.

Formerly used selectively to analyze manufacturing problems, simulation now preemptively identifies problems before they can occur. Previously, the focus lay on the feasibility of individual production steps, now several production variations are calculated in parallel, with results compared to identify the ideal approach.

As process simulation developed, results were viewed separately. In the future, they will be transferred from production step to production step to simulate entire process chains – process chain intra-production. Ideally, CAD data from design passes to production as a fixed value. In the future, manufacturing simulation results will flow back into design with the goal: design as manufactured.

Currently, process parameters have to be manually optimized in manufacturing simulation, soon they will be optimized by automated process loops (automatic optimization).

Using computer aided design (CAD) and computer-assisted engineering (CAE) to develop products and manufacturing processes has contributed to the process, but universal information technology (IT) on the production floor is furthering the vision of Digital Industry 4.0.

While the method of process simulation is well known in advanced industrial countries, even mature and high-tech industries are not yet fully integrating simulation into manufacturing process design, but rather using stand-alone simulation from case to case. Consistent and day-to-day use of simulation methods in production design still lies ahead.
 

An ROI consideration

The use of simulation tools initially is a cost factor. Still, the investment can pay off quickly through significantly reduced production development and running series production costs. Typically, process simulation redeems itself within a couple of months by eliminating scrap, machine down times, and tool wear that shrink profits.

Allocation of money in manufacturing companies is split into five phases:

• 9% goes into product development
• 3% into production planning
• 28% into production
• 38% into materials & suppliers
• 22% into sales

Two-thirds of the costs come from product realization, including the phases of production and materials and suppliers. Having the biggest impact on the overall, influencing costs is the early development phase, accounting for 70%. Manufacturing companies can learn that investments in the development phase provide the highest overall cost savings.
 

Twenty years ago, Simufact started developing methods and software-based instruments for the simulation of manufacturing processes. Simufact´s products and services focus on metalforming and joining manufacturing processes.

Simufact
www.simufact.de

MSC Software Co.
www.mscsoftware.com