Visual Components is an invaluable tool for automation facilities to see, in 3D, what can be realized for their production lines. Our CIMTEC engineers often have customers that need more than a robot, or vision system, they need solutions that will work. The latest trends affecting manufacturers, especially the packing and palletizing industry, is to use production simulation.
It’s always been hard to keep up with the dynamic world of packaging, but in 2021 it seems to be moving faster than ever. Increased consumer focus on packaging is driving shifts in how product is packed, palletized and wrapped. At the same time, the way products are bought and delivered is changing faster than anyone might have predicted just a few years ago.
For manufacturers, integrators, and users of packaging and palletizing equipment, this environment is a recipe for uncertainty and indecision. How are they to ensure equipment installed this year won’t be obsolete in 18 months? How do they provide flexibility, and what can they do to increase packaging and palletizing velocity without increasing costs?
CIMTEC doesn’t have the answers to these questions, but we do have tools that equipment designers, integrators and operators can use to find them.
CEO of Visual Components, Mikko Urho says, “For [the] packaging/palletizing industry to keep up with the competition and to make sure they are on top of the trends that are happening in this industry, the ability to design and validate new production solutions confidently is becoming more crucial.”
Their simulation tools give users the ability to do just that.
Although underway before 2020, the pandemic has clearly accelerated the shift towards online shopping and home or workplace delivery. In response, distribution centers (DCs) are multiplying across the country, and especially in population centers.
Simulate to Understand and Educate
In the past engineers and managers used spreadsheets, drawings, physical models and more recently, CAD to answer these by modeling various scenarios.
Each tool or model provided part of the picture but was never able to encompass the full complexity of workflow through manufacturing, packaging and warehousing operations. In addition, the time and effort they took to create and use made it impractical to model more than a handful of favored options. As a result, reaching the truly optimal layout, equipment configuration or level of automation and asset utilization was a matter of luck and in practice probably never achieved.
Visual Components has a tool that enables comprehensive modeling and analysis of the most complex production situations. Their 3D simulation software is designed for manufacturing professionals and built on a powerful, flexible, and scalable platform.
With production simulation it’s possible to build a virtual representation of an existing production line, kitting operation or palletization area. Validation against existing real-world operation is straightforward: feed the simulation actual production data and see how closely model results match the performance observed. Then, following any necessary finessing of the model, add in changes being considered, evaluate alternative production scenarios, explore the impact of different layouts and workflows.
For leaders in manufacturing, packaging, palletizing, warehousing and distribution operations these really are challenging times. A convergence of trends requires changed and improved equipment, layouts and working methods, but getting it wrong will impair competitiveness for years to come. By modeling current and proposed operations and equipment using production simulation software can help you prepare for the future.
Visual Components has three levels to choose from, Essentials, Professional, and Premium and CIMTEC provides training and on-going support. Get a demonstration from one our engineers, call us at 877.524.6832 or fill out a “Request a Free Trial” form.
