Automation Portals
- Automatic Identification
- Design & Simulation
- Digital Factory
- Electrical & Control Panels
- Embedded Automation
- Factory Automation
- Fieldbus Networks
- Flow, Level & Process Inst.
- Fluid Power, Valves & Pumps
- HMI & Operator Interfaces
- Industrial Communications
- Industrial Computers
- Industrial I/O
- Machine Control
- Machine Safety
- Manufacturing Intelligence
- Motion Control
- OPC
- Plant Management & Maint.
- PLCopen
- Process Control
- Process Safety
- Programmable Controllers
- Robots & Robot Controllers
- SCADA & RTU
- Security
- Sensors
- Systems Integration
- Test, Measurement & LIMS
- Vision
- Wireless Connectivity
- Network Portals
- EtherCAT
- EtherNet/IP
- PROFINET
- Industry Portals
- Building Automation
- Chemical
- Food & Beverage
- Machine Tools, CNC & DNC
- Material Handling
- Oil & Gas
- Packaging
- Pharmaceutical
- Power & Energy
- Transportation (Microsite)
- Water & Wastewater
- Event Portals
- Hannover Messe
- Industrial Automation NA
- ISA Automation Week
Modeling & simulation speed process development
Modeling & simulation speed process development
By Bill Lydon - Editor
Virtual Prescience at Proctor & Gamble
Thomas Lange, Director of Modeling & Simulation at Proctor & Gamble, described how P&G has embraced software technology to test and refine designs and processes before committing them to the real world at the ARC World Industry Forum February 8-11, 2010 in Orlando, Florida. P&G coined the term “Prescience” to describe their application of simulation and modeling technology. Efficiently creating and producing products is essential for P&G, the world’s largest consumer goods company and manufacturer of billions of products a year that sell for under $10. P&G uses simulation and modeling across a wide range of disciplines, including product design, process design, machine design, supply chain and reliability. “We build and test the first prototypes…virtual ones.”
Lange described Prescience as employing simulation to create knowledge of what's going to happen in the future without committing to physical prototypes. Lower cost modeling and simulation software, coupled with higher performance lower cost hardware, have enabled P&G to take advantage of this technology – a technology that has transformed industries such as defense and aerospace. Lange noted that prescience lowers the cost of innovation, “If the only way to learn how to make new toilet paper is to actually build a quarter of a million dollar machine and run it, that is an expensive proposition.”
Lange described how P&G has significantly accelerated the innovation cycle of design, test, and refine. In the past, they spent a great deal of time and money to develop, prototype, and test designs. The process cycle was repeated over and over again to refine the product and production process. While discussing prototypes Lange noted, “Outcomes cost too much with one time use equipment and the testing infrastructure.” “It also takes too long - the prototype cycles are too long and development is sequential.” Now with software-based design and simulation, P&G builds and tests virtual prototypes before they exist in the real world. Only after the virtual prototypes pass muster, does the company move on to the physical prototype stage. Other modeling and simulation application areas at P&G include:
- Analysis Led Discovery – Define where designs work or don’t work.
- Virtual Trail & Error – Predict why designs work or don’t work.
- Pathology – Explain why existing products and systems work or don’t work.
How long does it take to make a billion Pringles?
Lange provided a number of examples to highlight the complexity of their processes, including production of Pringles. They make one billion Pringles chips in 2 hours. Because the chips are moving so fast, aerodynamics is extremely relevant. The chips have the characteristic of a wing, which creates some interesting challenges when moving in a high speed production process. Another challenge was evenly dispersing seasoning on the chips while they are moving at high speeds. The whole process required some clever engineering.
Bet on a trend or fall victim to one!
Lange said that P&G is leveraging the trends of increasing computing power and sophisticated software to replace physical learning cycles with virtual ones that are faster, more accurate, and less expensive. Lange quoted a statement by former Google executive, Bobby Figueroa, “Bet on a trend or fall victim to one.” The point is - a valuable technology that is not used will become your competitor’s weapon against you and your worst nightmare.
What is next?
Predict reliability by pursuing realism as opposed to the notion of doing a model and thinking “it’s gonna be close.” “If it is going to give us guidance it has to get replaced with a model that is indistinguishable from an experiment,” said Lange. This means the models and simulations need to be much more complex, solve complex problems, parametric studies vs. point estimates, and automate what experts do today.
Thoughts and Observations
Based on Thomas Lange’s examples, it is easy to see the advantage of using computers to virtually perform product and production process design.
These tools provide the opportunity for much better overall design. There is interdependency between the product and the process to produce it that suggests both should be done together. First, virtually design the product and production process and simulate. Then consider redesign of the product and the production process based on the knowledge learned.