Digitalisation offers the opportunity to integrate virtual value chains into existing physical value chains, allowing for the development of a “digital twin” that can be used to improve product design, engineering, manufacturing and maintenance.

This is according to global engineering firm Siemens Germany corporate strategy director Anthony Davies, who spoke at the Siemens Totally Integrated Automation (TIA) User Forum 2016, which took place at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, in Pretoria.

Siemens South Africa executive director Clifford Klaas highlighted that the world was heading towards the fourth industrial revolution, known as Industry 4.0, which refers to the impact of digital technologies on the manufacturing sector.

“Siemens aims to pave the way towards digitalisation in the African context for [our customers] to understand the strengths in our automation and drives portfolios, and how well equipped we are for the future of digitalisation,” he said.

Davies pointed out that Siemens had, over the last 15 years, endeavoured to align its business to the megatrends of demographic and climate change, urbanisation, globalisation and the “undeniable digital transformation”.

“People invest where there are concrete benefits,” he highlighted, adding that Siemens customers were looking for availability guarantees to ensure optimal asset uptake performance.

Manufacturing companies were increasingly becoming more focused on improving the speed at which products entered commercial sales, Davies added.

Italian car manufacturer Maserati improved its time to market from about 30 months to 16 months using Siemens digitalisation products and systems. Maserati can now manufacture cars three times faster than it could before.

The concept of the digital twin played an important role to achieving this, Davies asserted, adding that digital technologies had allowed Siemens to develop software that allowed a product to not only be designed on digital platforms but to also simulate product performances before developing a prototype.

“Software simulation is gaining ground and what we see is that many markets are interested in employing simulation to try to improve their systems, processes, behaviours and products.”

Digital simulation allowed for the identification of design flaws in products, which could then be “engineered out” in a virtual environment before physical development took place, thereby significantly improving development costs.

Simulation software could also be applied to other processes, such as the production line, to identify and resolve potential design flaws and bottlenecks before physical production starts.

Further, simulation could also be used for training and to identify the potential safety risks of the product or within a manufacturing plant.

Davies highlighted that Siemens software was used to simulate the landing of the $2.5-billion Curiosity rover landing on Mars. The simulation was run about 8 000 times before the mission launch in November 2011. The rover landed on the surface of Mars in August 2012.

Interactive Displays
Guests at the TIA User Forum 2016 had the opportunity to interact and engage with Siemens’ digital, automation and drive technology, as well as attend workshop sessions concerning the company’s latest products’ demonstrations.

Italian motorbike manufacturer Ducati’s latest edition X Diavel S Cruiser, which is manufactured using Siemens automation technology, was showcased at the event.

Ducati engineers use the Siemens NX computer- aided design (CAD) system to digitally model and manage the entire X Diavel S Cruiser assembly. NX three-dimensional wiring functionality allows for verification of cable routing inside the virtual assembly, limiting the possible routing issues downstream.

Siemens Teamcenter product life-cycle management (PLM) software allows for secure data sharing and distribution in-house at Ducati and with its suppliers.

Siemens PLM software allows for golf equipment manufacturer Callaway to design its clubs with increased precision; guests at the 2016 TIA User Forum participated in golf simulation supported by Callaway.

Siemens also launched its TIA Portal V14, which enables users to perform automation and drive tasks quickly and intuitively through efficient configuration. TIA Portal V14 boasts expanded functionality and focuses on diagnostics, virtual commissioning and multi-users. Other features include enhanced energy management and motion control, cloud connectivity and digital twin for virtual commissioning.

The event also featured the Siemens process automation mobile unit, and integrated drive systems with digitalisation.