The complexity of manufacturing is ever growing. End users expect production equipment to be more customizable with higher throughput, performance, productivity, automation, intelligence and quality. Meanwhile, the time constraints to deliver this equipment don’t go away. If anything, time constraints are shrinking as end users race to market.

An end user tests a manufacturing process, early in development, using digital part production (DPP). (Image courtesy of Siemens.)

“End customers that require these things still expect them in the same, or shorter, periods of time,” elaborated Rahul Garg, V.P. Industrial Machinery and Mid-market program at Siemens Digital Industries Software. “Typically, by the time they need to decide this is a product they want to make, they need a machine. Trying to get those machines designed, built, delivered and commissioned on the end customer side, continues to be a more complex process than it was in the past.”

The fact that consumer products are also becoming more complex, further complicates the manufacturing equipment market. The more complex a product is, the more complex its manufacturing equipment. Think about it: a smart fridge will basically ship with all the parts of a traditional fridge and most of the parts of a traditional tablet. It stands to reason that the machines that produce these products will be more complex than those that make traditional tablets or fridges.

When you add robotics, automation and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) functionalities, these manufacturing systems become a considerable engineering feat to design. Modern manufacturing equipment “needs to communicate how the machine itself is performing to make sure that if there are any issues with the machine you can proactively identify and solve them before they become a bigger problem,” said Garg.

To address all these issue, Garg notes the importance of digital part production (DPP).

What is Digital Part Production?

Garg explains that DPP is Siemens’ answer to ensuring that parts and equipment are made to the highest tolerance. Parts of the PLM wheelhouse that are included within the DPP process include:

CAD for front-end design.
CAM to define how a part will be made.
The actual machining processes (including robotics, CNC, additive manufacturing, automated production lines).
Production scheduling/synchronization.

A digital twin of the Guangzhou MINO factory (left) next to its real counterpart (right). (Image courtesy of Siemens.)

“So, from a PLM wheelhouse, it’s the CAD, CAM, CNC [and more parts] of the process as one element,” said Garg. “When we say the digital part production process, or the digital part production solution, it is basically our comprehensive way of looking at how companies make parts that go into machines.”

But DPP isn’t just about the design of manufacturing equipment. “The second piece is making sure all the information that the machine needs and, a machine operator needs, is made available at the right time at the right place,” elaborated Garg.

“The third piece,” he added, “is to ensure that if there are any issues that come about during the production process that those issues are communicated to the manufacturing engineer, design engineer and quality inspection people. So, it makes sure all the necessary functions and people are informed to ensure the highest possible quality.”

Effectively, DPP utilizes the concept of digital threads and digital twins. But it narrows down the scope to the production of a product. Effectively, Garg explained, DPP could be seen as a subset of a digital twin’s capabilities—a digital machine shop, so to speak.

How Does Digital Part Production Help Manufacturing Equipment Design?

“Digitization is a really important aspect for machinery manufacturers,” said Garg. “A digital thread creates a feedback loop through the whole process. All the way from the design, where people are engineering and designing what that machine should look like, to the people who are making it—building the parts and assembling the parts—to the folks who are in the field that are commissioning that machine at the customer site. It makes sure that all these people are connected.”

The iMFLUX digital machines shop. (Image courtesy of Siemens.)

In essence, with DPP, equipment designers can build a digital version of the production process during the early development of the product it will produce. They could then use that digital machine shop, during these early stages, to answer questions such as:

Which machine is optimal for the task (i.e., robotics, CNC, additive manufacturing or more)?
What are all the steps the machine needs to perform to complete the task?
Can this machine produce the parts fast enough to meet demand?
Will the machine overheat?
Will the machine be able to operate within the environment where it will be installed?
What are the optimal operating conditions?
What service issues is the machine likely run into?
How will operators service the machine?

“One of the other issues that comes into the picture is the costing,” said Garg. “When you're trying to optimize your design for how that part will be manufactured, you want to understand what's the cost of each feature?”

By producing a digital version of the production process, designers can assess how each feature of the product will be manufactured. From there, costing estimates for the production process can be made.

Garg added, “Having the ability to understand the cost upfront, when you're doing the design of your parts, helps improve your overall costs and what you deliver to customers.”

How Does DPP Help Manufacturing Operations?

As previously mentioned, the benefits of DPP aren’t limited to those producing production equipment, end users also benefit. If the equipment designers are already producing a digital machine shop, as part of the DPP process, why not give that asset to the end users? It will effectively streamline the introduction of Industry 4.0 functionalities into the equipment.

Thanks to the digital thread, this user has access to all machine tool operations from his tablet. (Image courtesy of Siemens.)

For instance, thanks to that digital machine shop, an operator could access the entire production process from a tablet or a cellphone, from any location. In doing so, theoretically, the user can optimize production, schedule maintenance and assess performance targets from anywhere on the planet.

“Basically, it’s allowing you to produce a complete end-to-end orchestration of your engineering, manufacturing and quality processes,” said Garg. “It then provides operations the necessary guidance for how they should produce those parts, making sure they are given all the necessary information and training.”

In effect, the digital machine shop could be used in any number of production level tasks including:

Continuous improvement
Maintenance scheduling/prevention
Systems monitoring

A simulation of a plant’s implementation of social distancing. (Image courtesy of Siemens.)

DPP even has uses during the current COVID-19 crisis as it can be used to test modifications to best practices. For instance, engineers can use the digital machine shop to test out social distancing procedures without endangering employees.

It should be clear at this point that these examples only scratch the surface of the benefits of DPP. To learn more about this technology, read this.