TEMEX was tasked with completing automated assembly line delivery, including design, integration and delivery of the production environment for the assembly of products made from Legos, the Lego building base and electronic components. TEMEX had one year to develop this educational production line for the University’s new study programme , “Computer Systems for Industry of 21st Century.”

Read on for more about how TEMEX brought this Smart Factory project from concept to reality, and how Visual Components’ 3D production simulation software was able to help meet both deadlines and goals.

About the Smart Factory Project

The Smart Factory project was to develop a new educational assembly line for students of Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and also students from other faculties. VSB-Technical University of Ostrava ‘s idea for its Smart Factory laboratory was conceived to demonstrate various Industry 4.0 principles such as interoperability, virtualization, decentralization, real-time operating, service orientation and modularity.

As noted in the previous section, the production system was conceived to carry out automated and manual delivery of Lego blocks created using a 3D printer. Configuration of both the product and production method is selected at the beginning of each production cycle using a graphical user interface on a tablet. Once this is configured, the assembly cycle begins by taking an empty product container from stock. The manipulator takes all parts of the selected product and then loads them into the product container. Once the container is confirmed to be holding the necessary parts, it is placed on the conveyor portion of the assembly line.

Each Lego base houses a memory identifier that contains all information about the individual parts of the product and operations that are designed to be carried out. A control system will pick the appropriate workplace with production capacity and assign processing to it accordingly. The operation follows. . If automation is selected, the robots are able to produce the defined product. If manual assembly is selected, containers with product parts are instead transported to an operator to carry out the task.

At the end of the production cycle, the line will automate the inspection of each product at the test station to report back product correctness and functionality. An MES (manufacturing execution system) is responsible for warehouse management.

Visual Components Simulation Software Provides Key Assist

Since the Smart Factory project was a first-of-its-kind endeavor for VSB-Technical University of Ostrava, the good news is that TEMEX didn’t have to incorporate the production line into any existing infrastructure. However, engineers were still challenged to come up with a system that incorporated the likes of 3D printers, robotic workstations and methods of line rearrangement. The system had to be robust and include augmented reality and assisted assembly technology.

When it came to designing the line layout and incorporating all of these other necessities, TEMEX turned to Visual Components. The VC simulation software helped TEMEX engineers quickly prepare simulations of the line and the ongoing processes designed to take place on it. The VC platform also allowed TEMEX engineers the luxury of adjusting basic layouts into additional simulations of modular line layouts with ease. This all assisted with simulation in a near real-time environment to meet the University’s requirements and help keep the project on track for a summer 2020 completion.

“Preparing for this project was a great responsibility and, at the same time, a significant shift in terms of the scope of using Visual Components for simulations of the environment and all consecutive individual processes,” says Roman Vybiral, TEMEX CEO. “Thanks to this project, we realized that accurate simulations could draw attention to problems that may occur during the equipment’s commissioning. Using Visual Components prevents these problems in the functionality and throughput of the line in time and at a much lower cost.”

“Visual Components has become part of the preparation of some projects. It’s very useful to combine several interlocking elements and identify problems or weaknesses in production processes and flows in time.”

Roman Vybiral, TEMEX CEO

The End Result

The end result is a robust teaching tool that can help educate the next generation of creators and programmers at VSB-Technical University of Ostrava  — for years to come.

“The ability to see the entire production line and verify its proper functionality in almost real conditions before its production using Visual Components translated to a huge savings of time, labor and costs for all those involved in its development and production”

Roman Vybiral, TEMEX CEO

And for TEMEX, the Smart Factory project also opened up new possibilities for implementing Visual Components 3D production simulation software. As a firm that’s always striving to move its operations forward and push the envelope in what it can do technologically, it can now use the VC programs to create a digital twin of large-scale production lines, going beyond just using it for pure assembly equipment. Furthermore, TEMEX also sees an opportunity to use VC software in aluminum wheel manufacturing, palletizing and depalletizing lines, and more to continue to emerge as a technological leader in the Czech Republic.

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Europlacer is the world’s largest independent global supplier of surface-mount technology (SMT) pick and place machines. Their product portfolio includes a variety of SMT pick and place machines, storage solutions, PCB screen printers, and integrated software systems for production and process control.

Europlacer sells its solutions both directly and via a global network of distributors, and supports both channels with creating sales proposals. For a global company that produces a high volume of sales proposals every year, this amounts to a sizable workload. Before starting with Visual Components in 2018, Europlacer’s proposal workflow was slow and in need of improvement.

“We were using PowerPoint to create 2D drawings,” said Pierre Chatain, Product Marketing Manager. “It would take at least one day to create these and even then, they carried a high tendency of inaccuracies, so they had to go through several rounds of changes internally before we shared them with customers.”

They realized the need to improve the efficiency of their proposal response workflow and set out to find a tool that could support this. They also wanted a tool that could produce quality graphics and video of the solutions they were designing.

“The cost of a new product line exceeds several hundred thousand euros,” said Pierre. “So, the customer expects to have some nice visuals of what they’re purchasing.”

Europlacer selected Visual Components due to its ease of use and high-quality graphics.

“It was quite easy to create models of the machines and options we produced here in the French factory,” said Pierre. “Now that the models are in our library, it’s very easy to create new layouts and configurations, as well as generate drawings.”

“As a bonus, we’re also able to share videos of our simulations with customers.”

It was quite easy to create models of the machines and options we produced here in the French factory. Now that the models are in our library, it’s very easy to create new layouts and configurations, as well as generate drawings.

Pierre Chatain, Product Marketing Manager

The Project: A U.S. Based PCB Manufacturer Wants to Increase Capacity

“We recently completed a project with a U.S. based PCB manufacturer that wanted to increase their production capacity,” said Pierre. “They wanted to add another SMT assembly line within their existing floorspace.”

The assembly line included a PCB printer, two SMT pick-and-place machines, and a reflow oven; with a gate conveyor linking all the machines together.

“The challenge was to design a solution that met the customer’s production requirements and fit within the limited floor space,” said Pierre. “The space constraints made this project especially difficult.”

Europlacer’s proposal team used Visual Components to design different layout options and present them to the customer. After evaluating several options, they concluded that a U-shaped layout was the optimal configuration to meet the space and production requirements, and Europlacer was awarded the project.

“The use of Visual Components helped us win the project,” said Pierre. “The 3D simulation was very convincing for the customer and gave them confidence that our solution would meet the project’s requirements.”

The use of Visual Components helped us win the project. The 3D simulation was very convincing for the customer and gave them confidence that our solution would meet the project’s requirements.

Pierre Chatain, Product Marketing Manager

What’s Next

Just one year since implementing Visual Components, Europlacer is already seeing results. They’ve responded to dozens of layout requests and are noticing improvements in their response time and sales results.

“We’ve realized significant improvements in our sales process, in terms of both our efficiency and win rate,” said Pierre. “Our proposal response time has decreased from one day to less than one hour. That’s quite significant.”

Looking to the future, Europlacer plans to expand their use of 3D simulation to other applications.

“This tool is a perfect match for our request and we have discovered some very interesting additional features that we hope to apply as soon as possible,” said Pierre.

We’ve realized significant improvements in our sales process, in terms of both our efficiency and win rate. Our proposal response time has decreased from one day to less than one hour. That’s quite significant.

Pierre Chatain, Product Marketing Manager

The post Europlacer Project Case Study: Designing Total Line Solutions in a Flash appeared first on Visual Components.

Elm Electrical, a full service energy contracting company based in Massachusetts, recently chose Visual Components as their simulation software after a thorough evaluation of different simulation tools.

The company had been on the market for a simulation solution for a few years, but ultimately, their choice was mainly motivated by Visual Components’ ease of use and the availability of a PLC add-on, especially important as the company plans to grow. A brief training session was all it took for them to get started and currently they have one engineer dedicated to using the software full-time. In just the last two months, they’ve created seven simulations with the software.

More viable production lines

Previously Elm Electrical has only been simulating Fanuc robots using Fanuc’s propriety simulation tool while the rest of the layout has been static. Visual Components now enables Elm Electrical to expand simulation to cover the entire production line, which enables them to give their customers a better look at what they are going to get – by showing a realistic virtual production line.

Visual Components is more than just a sales tool.

Michael W. Holmberg, Senior Vice President, Elm Electrical

Another reason for choosing Visual Components was the customer intimacy the company provided. Any questions that Elm Electrical had were quickly responded to and product support was extensive.

At the moment the people at Elm Electrical are satisfied with their choice of simulation software. While the software has only been used for a short while, they are hoping that it will speed up sales cycles and ultimately, lead to more sales. Their only regret is that they didn’t purchase the software years ago, as they certainly would’ve made more sales over the years

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