Guest contributor: Hans Michael Krause, Bosch Rexroth

Bosch Rexroth and Dassault Systèmes will use a modular assembly line to show how the Factory of the Future can be efficiently planned, implemented and continuously improved using digital twins. The key ingredients for this recipe for success: model-based systems engineering, intelligent controls and drives with open interfaces, and continuous improvement through IoT services.

Manufacturers of complex products and machines face the challenge of meeting the most diverse requirements in even shorter development cycles. With a demonstration assembly line, Dassault Systèmes and Bosch Rexroth will show at the Hannover Messe how time-to-market can be shortened with the greatest possible flexibility if production and product engineering seamlessly mesh on the data side. In addition, the turnkey assembly line highlights the added value that machine builders and end users can generate in conjunction with IoT services. The cornerstone of all this is the ‘digital twin’, a realistic depiction of product, production and performance.

 

At the Hannover Messe, Bosch Rexroth and Dassault Systèmes will demonstrate the seamless and profitable interaction of line and product engineering.

“Single source of truth” for the product, production and performance

Dassault Systèmes integrates the sample project from Bosch Rexroth into the integrated engineering workflows of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, which provides a central source of information for designers, electricians and programmers. All platform functions for virtual engineering access a common database. For example, the simulation software receives direct access to the design data from the CAD program. In addition, it enables visualization in real time, so that visitors to the Bosch Rexroth booth can observe the 3D model of the demo line connected with the real object in real-time via sensors.

Shortened initial start-up through model-based engineering

The demo assembly line has a modular structure and is based on intelligent, decentralized automation components that are networked horizontally and vertically via open standards. The product that is assembled on the assembly line, the SCD – Sense Connect Detect sensor introduced by Bosch Rexroth, controls itself along the line using an RFID identifier. As in previous projects, such as the WestRock packaging machine, this system has also been developed, put into virtual operation and implemented in a very short time using models in the framework of Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform. In addition to the CAD data, the behavioral models from the automation also flowed into the digital twin.

The assembly line at the Hannover Messe.

Collaboration between production and product engineering

The 3DEXPERIENCE platform also acts as an interface to the end user. If the user also depicts a product using a digital twin, the system can adjust to their requirements within a short time. An example: a manufacturer of construction vehicles wants to use the SCD sensor in a future excavator to measure vibrations from the hydraulic pump. He uses the sensor model in the virtual prototype of the excavator and defines a required housing modification. Bosch Rexroth then creates a new digital twin, inserts it into the virtual line model and validates the production capability in the simulation environment. In the same way as in this example, machine builders can use their digital twins to test in advance how new variants affect space requirements, stability, geometry, storage life or transport. In addition, the simulation also exposes critical areas for product quality, thereby reducing the risk of product recalls.

Economical production of batch sizes of 1

The close interlinking of product, production and performance via digital twins also allows for much more flexibility in production. This aspect is also illustrated by the joint demo project from Bosch Rexroth and Dassault Systèmes. To economically produce different sensor variants in small quantities down to a batch size of 1, Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform works with the system via its MES functions. It transmits the jobs individually to the assembly line via the OPC UA interface, and from there receives the production and quality data for each manufactured SCD sensor.

Dassault Systèmes’ and Bosch Rexroth’s partnership is a powerful testament to the competitive advantages that machine builders and end users derive from a seamless workflow, from virtual engineering to intelligent automation.

The digital twin is the key to the Factory of the Future – Part II  Blog Continued here:

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