April 2023 www.drivesncontrols.com 8 BMW HAS STARTED to “operate” a new plant virtually, more than two years before the real factory begins production. In what it calls a “revolution in factory planning,” virtual manufacturing is already underway for its Debrecen factory in Hungary, which is due to start producing BMW’s next generation of allelectric models, the Neue Klasse, in 2025. The factory will be BMW’s first facility to be planned and validated completely virtually. The company is using Nvidia’s Omniverse Enterprise industrial metaverse platform to run real-time 3D digital twin simulations to help optimise the factory’s layout, robotics and logistics systems. The platform allows manufacturers to plan and optimise factory projects entirely virtually, and to enter production faster and operate more efficiently, improving time-to-market and sustainability. It will help them to reduce risks, and to ensure that new plants will operate successfully, before committing to massive construction projects and capital expenditures. BMW regards the virtual planning approach as a blueprint for future planning processes in the group. It plans to extend these capabilities to its sites around the world. “Virtualisation and artificial intelligence are accelerating and refining our planning,” explains Milan Nedeljković, BMW’s board member for production. “With the various planning systems consolidated within a digital twin, our teams around the world can now work together in real-time and make decisions faster and on a more solid foundation. This makes us much quicker and more efficient and saves on costs as well.” The Neue Klasse vehicles, based on a new architecture, will mark a fundamental transformation to BMW’s iFactory concept, which Nedeljković describes as “our masterplan for the automotive production of tomorrow”. This transformation started in in 2020, when BMW started to 3D-scan all of its vehicle and engine plants. Since then, it has scanned more than 7,000,000m2 of indoor and 15,000,000m2 of outdoor production spaces. Any subsequent modifications can be integrated digitally with a re-scan, ensuring the data is always up-to-date. Virtual planning is now under way for the 1.4km2 production hall at Debrecen. The Omniverse platform is allowing production experts to use live data both in-house and with suppliers for detailed planning and to optimise the processes and individual systems for the plant. Structure and facility data can be integrated with equipment and assembly line data. In future, items and part numbers for production materials will be available as well. Alternative layout options – for robots in work cells, for example, or for logistics areas – can be viewed as real-time, photorealistic simulations, and changed as required. Any modifications can be evaluated, validated and implemented in real-time. BMW’s suppliers can be involved in the decision-making. For example, the technology can be used to explore the possibility of adding a robot in a location where floor space is limited. It can solve the problem on the fly, with logistics and production planners able to visualise and decide the ideal placement for the robot. “This is transformative – we can design, build and test completely in a virtual world,” says Nedeljković. Later, product, process, quality and cost data will be available in the Omniverse platform, alongside the development, planning and production processes. Other additions are expected to include “invisible” processes such as the consumption of energy and resources. The platform will enhance digital operations as well – a crucial stage that BMW and Nvidia teams are already tackling. Also in the future, it will be possible to localise operational faults in seconds to minimise downtime. “Digitalisation is moving fastest in the automotive industry and BMW has been a leader in advancing this vision,” says Nvidia’s founder and CEO, Jensen Huang. “We are partnering closely with BMW, using Nvidia Omniverse to help streamline their manufacturing processes, enhance collaboration and further efficiency. Our collaboration will continue to push the frontiers of virtual integration for the next generation of smart, connected factories around the world.” BMW runs new plant virtually, two years before production starts n NEWS BMW is already running its new Debrecen plant virtually more than two years before it is due to enter production Hannover Messe 17–21 April, 2023 Hannover, Germany The industrial megashow is expected to attract around 4,000 exhibitors with the theme for 2023 being Industrial Transformation – Making a Difference, and the partner country being Indonesia. The event will be broken down into seven areas including: Automation, Motion and Drives; Digital Ecosystems; Energy Solutions; Engineered Parts & Solutions; Future Hub; Compressed Air & Vacuum; and Global Business & Markets. www.hannovermesse.de/en Talking Industry Live 25 April, 2023 MTC, Coventry A free-to-attend one-day event organised by Talking Industry in partnership with the Manufacturing Technology Centre. The event will include a series of panel discussions, workshops, seminars and an exhibition. Topics being discussed include robotics, automation, digital manufacturing and AI. Attendees will also be offered tours of the MTC, as well as complimentary breakfast and lunch. www.talkingindustry.org/talking-industry-live Robotics and Automation – A New Perspective 2023 10-11 May, 2023 MTC, Coventry A free two-day conference which will explore the future of automation in the UK and demonstrate the opportunities available to UK industry. Topics will include barriers to adoption, opportunities for robotics in skills development, and how to tackle the challenges presented by automation. Technologies being covered include AI, machine vision, sensing, cobots and mobile robots. https://drivesncontrols.news/wvqeky Manufacturing & Engineering Week 2023 7–8 June, 2023 NEC, Birmingham The event will bring together live and digital events including the Design & Engineering Expo 2023, the Smart Factory Expo (which replaces the earlier Manufacturing Expo) and Maintec, as well as a zone dedicated to the Drives & Controls, AirTech and Fluid Power & Systems shows that the organiser, Nineteen Group, acquired from DFA Media. Another acquisition, The Hennick Group, will bring the SME Growth Summit, the Sustainable Manufacturing Digitalisation Summit and the Manufacturing Top 100 Awards. www.mandeweek.co.uk Automation UK / MVC 20-21 June, 2023 CBS Arena, Coventry Automation UK is a new annual exhibition championing the use and development of automation and industrial robots in UK industry. Organised by Bara (the British Automation and Robot Association), it will run alongside the existing Machine Vision Conference (MVC) and exhibition, organised by Ukiva (the UK Industrial Vision Association). Bara and Ukiva are both part of the PPMA (Processing and Packaging Machinery Association). www.automation-uk.co.uk
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