Plant Simulation consultants
Plant Simulation consultants who ran CPG plants
Our team has used Plant Simulation, part of the Tecnomatix® portfolio, for more than 15 years and delivered over 50 models of manufacturing lines, plants, warehouses and supply chains. We use it when a job needs detailed equipment behavior and a model the plant team can watch run.
Why we moved to it
Our customers asked us to
For our first decade and more, our models ran in Extend. Then some of our engineering partners wanted better animation than it gave them. They found they already owned Plant Simulation, and they asked us to move with them. They funded our Plant Simulation training.
More than 50 projects followed, and since then we have chosen the tool that fits the client and the question, not the one we happen to prefer.
The team that leads this work spent decades inside consumer packaged goods plants, in reliability engineering, material handling automation and manufacturing systems. They know how converting and packing lines behave on the floor, and they build models that behave the same way.
When Plant Simulation fits
- Individual units matter: each roll, case or pallet carries its own attributes and route.
- The plant team needs to see the layout move, in 2D or 3D, to trust the result.
- Your company already owns Plant Simulation and wants models its engineers can open and extend.
- The study includes AGVs, robots or conveyors where physical position drives the answer.
For very high-speed lines moving product as a flow, a discrete rate model is often faster to build and run. We will tell you which one fits.
Typical studies
What our Plant Simulation models answer
Each one starts with a decision someone has to make about the line or the plant.
Buffer and conveyor sizing
How much accumulation between machines keeps the line running when one stops, and where more stops paying back.
Changeovers and scheduling
What sequence, run length and changeover time do to throughput when the product mix shifts.
Converting and packing lines
Parent rolls through converting, packing and palletizing, with each machine's own rates, failures and repairs.
Line integration
Adding a new machine or a new line to an existing plant, tested before the equipment arrives.
AGVs and material handling
Fleet size, routing and traffic for automated vehicles and handling systems.
Warehouses and distribution
Storage, picking and shipping capacity in plant warehouses and distribution centers.
See one run
See our modeling work in motion
This short video introduces how we model lines and plants. Animation is one reason clients choose Plant Simulation: engineers, operators and managers can watch the same model and agree on what it shows before anyone argues about the numbers.
We share more of this work on our YouTube channel.
Case studies
Manufacturing questions we have answered
Capacity, bottlenecks, overtime and scheduling. The same questions our Plant Simulation clients bring us.
Olive plant capacity: 15% more throughput
Finding the real bottlenecks in an olive plant, and 15% more throughput from scheduling.
15% throughput improvement
Chemical bagging lines: capacity vs. overtime
Weighing new bagging lines against overtime, and finding low-capital room to grow.
Soap plant consolidation: a $4M retrofit avoided
Folding several plants and 300+ products into one, and catching a $4M problem first.
$4M retrofit avoided
Brewpub expansion: the tanks set the limit
Adding kegging and bottling, and finding the real limit was the tanks, not the new lines.
Cereal grit storage: sizing a new decoupling step
Sizing a patented grit storage step so cereal makers could see its value in their own plant.
19.8% more production at peak
Coffee plant scheduling: a bottleneck that moves
A process change broke the schedule. The model showed why, and tested a new way to schedule.
Sizing in-process storage when reblend moves
Storage needs that moved with the schedule, and a model reused at a dozen similar factories.
12 similar factories reused the modelWhat we build
Plant Simulation consulting beyond the model
Plant Simulation licenses come from Siemens. We build what you run on them: models, libraries of your own equipment, and apps that put the results in front of the people who need them.
Moving a model between tools or versions? We migrate models between ExtendSim, Plant Simulation and custom apps.
Model migrationStandardizing across plants? We build and manage Plant Simulation object libraries so every model uses the same tested equipment.
Simulation librariesTraining your team? We teach Plant Simulation and SimTalk on your own models.
Plant Simulation training coursesBeyond the model
From the line to the edge
Our Siemens work goes past Plant Simulation. We build apps on Siemens Industrial Edge that read the line in real time and coach operators during the shift.
Edge & IIoTFree tutorials
Plant Simulation tutorials: Foundations I
Four short videos from our instructional series for people new to Plant Simulation. More on our YouTube channel. Ready for more? See Plant Simulation training.
Tell us your problem
What would happen if you changed it?
Describe the decision in front of you. We'll tell you whether a model can answer it, and what it would take.
- A straight answer on whether simulation is the right tool
- Which tool fits, even if it isn't one we use every day
- A rough scope and timeline, before any commitment