Fake It Before You Make It

It’s always been said that modernization in manufacturing is a slow process, and for a good reason. Companies need to get it right the first time and avoid the cost of having to go back and retool all over again. Factory and machine updates are made when they will increase the bottom line or provide the means to innovate a product. Even a slowdown in the economy will not stop innovators from pursuing better methods to produce goods and services. The end user always looks for products and software to simplify complex functions and improve productivity. The powerful tools provided by design and simulation software and the reduction in cost of these tools are driving engineers to implement simulation software more frequently. But we have a ways to go. A Control Design Market Intelligent Report conducted in June 200 [see the video report at www.ControlDesign.com/simulation] identified the use and application trends of design and simulation software among industrial machine builders and system integrators that comprise our audience. There were 154 respondents, and here are some highlights. Forty percent of machine-builder survey respondents indicated they currently use simulation software. Of those respondents who use simulation software, the most common applications include:

1. Control sequences (61%)
2. Motion simulation (60%)
3. Component integration (58%)
4. Motion visualization (51%)
5. Component placement (48%)
6. Cycle time (45%)
7. Dynamic variables (41%).

In terms of value provided by simulation software, respondents ranked the aspects as follows:

1. Speeds configuration and commissioning (88% ranked as “important” or “very important”)
2. Duplicates sequences and conditions that are difficult to produce in shop tests (80% ranked as “important” or “very important”)
3. Better defines control system cost decisions (77% ranked as “important” or “very important”)
4. 3D visualization (72% ranked as “important” or “very important”).