Macnica supports Aresti Tochigi in implementing production simulation to optimize its entire factory – Visualizing invisible waste with "Plant Simulation" and accelerating on-site-driven improvements.

Macnica (Headquarters: Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture; Representative Director and President: Kazumasa Hara; hereinafter referred to as Macnica) announced today that it has supported Aresti Tochigi Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tochigi City, Tochigi Prefecture; Representative Director and President: Hirofumi Kondo; hereinafter referred to as Aresti Tochigi) in its efforts to optimize its entire factory by introducing Siemens GmbH's production simulation software "Plant Simulation*".

■ Moving away from process design that relies on experience and intuition, and bridging the gap between planning and on-site work are key challenges.
Aresti Tochigi is one of Japan's leading foundries, possessing approximately 30 large casting machines ranging from 350t to 4,000t in size, and specializing in aluminum die-cast products for automotive parts.
In anticipation of the medium- to long-term progress towards electric vehicles, the company needed to further improve the overall production efficiency of its factories as its product lineup expanded due to a shift in its business structure from one centered on internal combustion engine parts to one focused on the manufacture of parts for EVs and HEVs.
On the other hand, process design relies heavily on on-site experience and intuition, and even when countermeasures based on past failures are implemented, there are cases where a fundamental solution is not achieved. Furthermore, optimization of the entire factory, including the appropriate number of forklifts, transport routes, and line layouts, has not been sufficiently carried out, and the lack of prior verification was a concern as a risk of investment failure in large-scale investments such as the launch of new products or the construction of new factories.
To address these challenges, reduce investment risk by visualizing problems at the planning stage, and promote in-house improvement activities led by the factory floor, the company accepted Macnica 's proposal and decided to implement the production simulation software "Plant Simulation."

■ Macnica 's Initiatives
Macnica has a leading track record in Japan for supporting the implementation of "Plant Simulation." In this initiative, they used "Plant Simulation" to build and operate two simulation models: a large-scale simulation model covering the entire foundry, approximately 300 meters long, and a small-scale simulation model covering one casting machine line. In addition, they provided comprehensive support for internalizing DX promotion, going beyond "implementation and done," including training, setting on-site KPIs using logic trees, and even chat-based support for in-house development. As a result, they were able to build a system where simulations can be used by on-site personnel, and on-site members with no prior programming experience were able to acquire the skills to work on model development on their own.

■ Visualization and pre-verification enable optimization of the entire factory and accelerate on-site-led improvement activities.
After implementation, the operating status of forklifts, which had previously relied on empirical rules, became visible on a per-unit basis, making it possible to determine the appropriate number of forklifts, and providing concrete guidelines for optimizing the entire factory. Furthermore, in the verification of one casting machine line conducted in collaboration with a cross-departmental team, the essence of the problem was grasped by recreating the actual site on the simulator during the planning stage. As a result, the duplication of processes between automated inspection and visual inspection was identified, leading to improvements.
Furthermore, by visualizing the simulation results numerically and visually, we can now identify problems and formulate appropriate improvement measures without relying on experience or intuition. This enables process design based on prior verification, which is expected to reduce rework that would otherwise lead to redesign or additional investment, and consequently reduce investment risk.
In addition, during the planning stage of new products, the use of simulators has enabled more evidence-based calculations of lead times and the number of casting machines required, which were previously estimated on paper. This has improved the accuracy of estimates and the precision of proposals to upper management. As a result, it has contributed not only to improvements on the factory floor but also to strengthening sales capabilities. Furthermore, the progress in quantification and visualization has fostered a shared understanding across departments, and decision-making is shifting from a perspective of optimizing individual parts to one of overall optimization.

■Regarding the future
Going forward, Aresti Tochigi will accumulate operational know-how for "Plant Simulation" as its core factory, with a view to expanding its use throughout the entire Aresti Group. Macnica will continue to support Aresti's digital transformation and assist in the overall optimization driven by the manufacturing floor.

< Plant Simulation screen image / Overall factory model / Casting machine 1-line model>

* "Plant Simulation" is Siemens' production simulation software that creates a digital twin of manufacturing preparation and the manufacturing site. By building a virtual factory line on a computer and reproducing the flow of people and materials in a way that closely resembles reality, it enables high-speed simulations for efficient bottleneck analysis and variable-mix, variable-volume production.

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https://www.macnica.co.jp/business/ai_iot/cases/149858/

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*The information published in the news release (including product price, specifications, etc.) is current as of the date of announcement. Please note that the information may be subject to change without prior notice.