Industry 4.0, or the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’, is internationally recognized as the future of manufacturing. In the Smart Factory, machines interact and respond intelligently to their physical environment. Throughout the operation, they are measuring, collecting and storing data, before sharing the information to convey the exact system state.
This improved interconnectivity means that a fully integrated model can be compiled from live data obtained directly from the dynamic environment which, if leveraged correctly, can be used to make decisions regarding overall operation. Machine-to-machine and human-to-machine communication and artificial intelligence are already in operation in the manufacturing environment, with further technological advancements bringing new operational data sources into line as digitalization is taking hold of the manufacturing process with Industry 4.0.
Simio Production Scheduling Software is a simulation-based tool that can be used for modeling manufacturing and is uniquely placed to accommodate all the advances in information management, both now and in the future. Connecting to real time data sources and supporting complex in-memory relational data storage and manipulation, Simio has the added ability to impose complex dynamic decision rules on its data models.
This ability to accurately model critical constraints, as well as entities, is what makes Simio a second generation Risk-Based Planning and Scheduling resource, since the resulting scheduling reflects the true operation of the system. As well as precise modeling of deterministic schedules for ideal circumstances, the predictive power of the scheduling software introduces the opportunity to model outcomes with variations in resources and unplanned events.
Forward visibility provided by Simio forms a solid basis for decision making, for example when assessing of the potential risks and results of changes to facility design or in enabling KPIs to be met in the face of uncertain conditions. The use of Simio to maximize results when breakdowns, staff shortages or material outages occur, impacts positively on the operation’s bottom line.
Far from any reliance upon human scheduling, the use of Simio in an Industry 4.0 situation, or indeed in any factory of the future, introduces an extra dimension of non-conventional analysis that can devise alternative solutions that even the most experienced scheduler would never have thought of!
Where automated scheduling, rescheduling and predictions for improved productivity and profitability are needed, Simio Simulation-based Production Scheduling Software provides the most advanced solution on the market.