Business is becoming more and more impacted by digitalisation. Customers are increasingly able to tell manufacturers directly – via the Internet – exactly what they want and when. If manufacturers don’t respond, alternatives can of-ten be found easily, and potential business can be lost quickly.
Manufacturers need to respond
To address this challenge, manufacturers need to reduce their time-to-market, while increasing flexibility to enable individualised mass production – and do so with reduced energy and resource consumption. Solutions to address this challenge are developed by initiatives such as the Internet of Things and Industrie 4.0.
By simply focusing on the automation of manufacturing processes, it is not possible to meet the aforementioned requirements. A holistic approach, stretching over the complete value chain and encompassing an often global ecosystem of suppliers, is necessary.
The manufacturing industry is now at the stage where the automation of complete workflows is the only way to ensure a long-term, defendable, competitive position.
Digital Enterprise Software Suite
The seamless integration of data along the industrial value chain will gain more and more in importance for manufacturers. Siemens aims to provide its customers with a comprehensive portfolio of hardware and software products that enables the comprehensive integration of data from development, production and suppliers. The complete digital representation of the entire physical value chain is the ultimate goal. The holistic automation solution for this purpose is the Digital Enterprise Software Suite.
Continuous digitalisation of the value chain
Over the past 15 years, Siemens has developed an extensive suite of software products and is now in a position to offer its customers a holistic automation solution covering all major Industrie 4.0 requirements – the Digital Enterprise Software Suite.
The Siemens product portfolio already smoothly connects major parts of the product and production lifecycle today. Powerful Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) software, for example, allows the development and optimisation of new products on an entirely virtual basis.
In the real manufacturing world the Totally Integrated Automation (TIA) solution, which has proven its worth for nearly 20 years now, ensures the efficient interoperability of all automation components.
Siemens collaboration platform – Teamcenter
As the Siemens Collaboration Platform and single data backbone for the digital enterprise, Teamcenter enables globally dispersed enterprises to engage every facet of the business in new product introductions.
Integrated idea capture as well as project and portfolio management tools are combined with industry-leading product design and development solutions in a single, shared source of product and process knowledge.
Teamcenter helps companies take control of their multicomputer CAD processes, including mechanical, electronics, software and simulation, and manage that data in a single secure source.
Users can access, assemble and re-use valuable intellectual property and validate the quality and completeness of all product data.
Industry software
Industry software from Siemens helps manufacturers become digital enterprises by enabling them to digitalise and integrate their entire industrial value chain through PLM solutions, MES)/MOM) solutions and the TIA equipment, all supported by the Teamcenter platform.
PLM software
PLM software from Siemens provides a common digital thread through all phases of development and manufacturing, from concept to end-of-life, enabling tight design, engineering and manufacturing integration. These solutions help companies create a single master source of all data and 3D images that can be used to define today’s most complex platforms and synchronise a global virtual network of designers, developers, manufacturing engineers, production specialists and service/support teams – ultimately helping them realise innovation.
• The Teamcenter collaboration platform: Teamcenter enables globally dispersed enterprises to engage every facet of their business in new product introductions.
• NX digital product development: The NX software is an integrated product design, engineering and manufacturing solution that helps companies deliver better products faster and more efficiently.
• Tecnomatix digital manufacturing: Tecnomatix software delivers process innovation by linking all manufacturing disciplines with product engineering, including process engineering and simulation, and production management.
• LMS simulation testing: The LMS test and simulation software solutions help manufacturers incorporate model-based mechatronic simulation and advanced testing solutions in the product development process.
• Fibersim composites design and manufacturing: The Fibersim software for composites engineering is used by numerous leading manufacturers in the aerospace, automotive, marine and wind energy industries.
MES software and MOM systems
The Siemens MOM system, which includes the Simatic IT, Simatic WinCC and IBS software suites, provides a real-time software layer that links PLM to automation. Representing a holistic solution to improve manufacturing operations performance, Siemens MOM is built to consolidate the management of production execution, sequencing, non-conformance management and overall quality.
• Simatic IT Manufacturing Execution System: The Siemens MES is a highly scalable, modular platform that allows companies to drive production efficiency, provide operational transparency and optimise manufacturing responsiveness.
• Simatic WinCC Process visualisation and monitoring: The efficient engineering, integrated diagnostics and flexible analysis capabilities of the Siemens scada manage the vast data volumes produced in modern industrial plants, put operators in control of the manufacturing process and offer a scalable platform for decision making and operations optimisation.
• IBS quality management system: The Siemens quality management system enables organisations to safeguard compliance, optimise quality, reduce defect and rework costs and achieve operational excellence by increasing process stability.
Automation software
TIA, industrial automation makes engineering efficient. The open system architecture covers the entire production process and offers efficient interoperability across all automation components. This is made possible by consistent data management, global standards and uniform interfaces for hardware and software. These shared characteristics minimise engineering time and result in lower costs, reduced time-to-market and greater flexibility.
• TIA Portal one integrated engineering framework: TIA Portal is the key to unlocking the full potential of TIA. The pioneering engineering framework optimises all planning, machine and process procedures and offers a standardised and integrated operating concept. It seamlessly integrates controllers, distributed I/O, HMI, drives, motion control and motor management into a single engineering framework.
• Sinumerik CNC control: Sinumerik offers innovative functionality for the operation of multi-tasking machines. It supports deployment with multi-technology machines and complex tools to avoid the need for a tool change and allow for increased manufacturing productivity.
Putting it all together – MindSphere and the digital twin
At this year’s Hannover Messe, Siemens demonstrated how companies of any size can benefit from its revolutionary digital architectures.
The ability to respond to individual customer requirements with small batch sizes calls for the use of simulation solutions along the entire value chain. This is where the digital twin comes into its own, precisely duplicating and simulating the properties and performance features of a physical product, a product line, a process or a complete plant in the virtual world before a single screw needs to be picked up in the real world. This means a significant rise in productivity and efficiency. With its extensive software offering and automation solutions, Siemens is also creating a global open ‘digital marketplace’, which opens up scope for completely new business models.
The underlying foundation for new business models is connection to the cloud-based open operating system MindSphere. Siemens used the example of the dairy industry to demonstrate how both process and discrete workflows in the food and beverage industry can benefit from digitalisation. Factors typically affecting the dairy industry are high cost sensitivity and mass production on the one hand, coupled with the growing diversity of available flavours and innovative packaging concepts on the other.
By linking the virtual and real production worlds through the simulation of machines and plants using digital twins with the aid of MindSphere, Siemens showcased the ways in which digitalisation can be applied across every stage of the dairy value chain to secure real competitive advantages through greater flexibility, quality and energy efficiency.
For more information contact Jennifer Naidoo, Siemens Digital Factory and Process Industries and Drives, +27 (0)11 652 2795, [email protected], www.siemens.com/digitalization
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