Siemens Process Simulate case study

Market leading KUKA Systems provide engineering services and distinctive, flexible automatic production systems – as seen in the body-in-white (BIW) production line in the image above. KUKA Brazil, a top production line integrator with 170 employees, worked with Siemens Digital Industries Software to increase competitiveness of their services offering and improve margin on projects following an investment in personnel to meet the increasing demands of new markets.

Upgrading from Robcad to Process Simulate

Having used Robcad to manage automation previously for automotive robotics on BIW production lines, the team were able to migrate all existing data from Robcad directly into Process Simulate without any issues. Once imported, the team were quickly able to test multiple part variants through lines, rather than working on single cells or robots, increasing efficiency and accuracy.

For years we have been using Robcad, and we are very satisfied with its capabilities. In 2012, we delivered a project to one of the automotive OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) using Robcad. For evaluation purposes, we performed some of the work with Process Simulate, and then demonstrated its value. The customer was very pleased with the results, so we decided to deliver the next project in its entirity using Process Simulate.

Marcio Sampaio Tubini, Digital Manufacturing Project Leader, KUKA Brazil

The dynamic production data created in Process Simulate enabled the KUKA Brazil team to see the impact of testing robotics variants on all other elements of the factory, enabling them to make decisions with certainty, factoring in the knock on effects of all aspects, such as machiery downtime and potential collisions. These kind of set backs are often only identified on the factory floor and can cause costly delays which impact negatively on throughput.

Testing PLC code offsite with virtual commissioning

The team were able to use Process Simulate to test the logic of machinery coding by completing virtual commissioning. This was conducted remotely using the  ‘digital twin’ of production lines – exact replicas of production lines in the virtual world where testing can take place with no risk.

We estimate that approximately 70 percent of the start-up work is robotics and control-program tuning; we believe that by using Process Simulate Virtual Commissioning we can reduce that by 20 to 30 per cent.

Gilmar Miranda, Engineering Manager, KUKA Brazil.

You can read more about how the team were able to reduce costly time on the factory floor and collaborate on producing more units with the same equipment, or as it’s known, ‘higher jobs per hour’ in the Siemens Digital Industries case study here. If you’d like to chat about getting the most from your automation, you can get in touch with the Simsol team of specialist simulation engineers below.