Existing methods are a bottleneck and the Kaizen cycle on-site doesn't work

Existing methods are a bottleneck, preventing the on-site Kaizen cycle from working

There has been a sharp increase in cases where on-site kaizen, which has been carried out using traditional existing methods, is no longer able to be handled.

- Increasing sophistication of market demands: Product specifications are becoming more complex and the number of evaluation items is increasing year by year
- Diversification of product types and processes: The number of pattern combinations is huge, and determining optimal conditions requires a huge amount of work.
・Increasing complexity of production methods: Automated equipment, robots, AGVs, and people all mixed together

Existing methods for dealing with these changes are limited in scope, and repeated trial and error increases the risk that on-site actions will deviate from the long-term vision.

Solution: Virtual commissioning allows for pre-simulation and realization of improvements without shutting down the site

Virtual commissioning is a method of recreating an entire factory, including processes, layout, and personnel placement, in a virtual space before launching an actual line, and verifying control and logistics flows.
This makes it possible to verify the validity of plans and the effects of improvement ideas through advance simulations, something that previously could only be examined through data processing based on existing methods.

1. Advance verification of production plans
Identify bottlenecks and congestion points during the simulation stage and determine the optimal setup and sequence

2. Significant time savings
Instead of trial and error on a physical line, optimize by instantly changing and comparing parameters in a virtual environment.

3. Pursuit of overall optimization
Simultaneously improve throughput and resource utilization for the entire line, not just individual processes

This makes it possible to simultaneously minimize the on-site burden, shorten lead times to market, and maximize production efficiency.

Benefits by department

Department	Key benefits	Final impact
Management/PMO	・Quantitatively grasp ROI before investing ・Shortening of the payback period for investment *Due to shortening the lead time to market	Synchronizing long-term vision with on-site actions
design	・Pre-verify layouts and transport scenarios - Immediately reflect verification results in design drawings	Shortening product development lead times
Production Technology	・Virtual integration of control logic and equipment operation - Reduce debugging time at startup	Shortening production preparation lead time
Production site	・Highly complete plans are provided, so daily readjustments are greatly reduced - Improved PDS (Plan-Do-See) speed	Maximize production efficiency

Document download

How to achieve improvements that go beyond conventional methods in increasingly complex manufacturing sites: Optimization approaches for production planning and line design that cannot be fully resolved using Excel

We will introduce an approach that moves away from personalized on-site improvements and digitally optimizes the entire process.

One-stop support from simulation introduction to establishment

Macnica provides comprehensive tool implementation, personnel training, and operational support to help you realize virtual commissioning and create a system for making improvements without stopping the site.

Tool Name	Main Applications	Representative functions
Plant Simulation	Optimizing the logistics and production processes of an entire factory using discrete simulation	・Modeling of line/logistics flow ・Bottleneck analysis, throughput prediction ・Equipment utilization rate ・Visualization of inventory trends
Process Simulate	Verifying robot and worker movements in 3D to speed up process design	・Motion simulation through CAD linkage ・Robot OLP (offline programming) ・Takt time verification, interference check

service menu

Phase	Service name	Content summary
introduction	Implementation support services	・Model your existing factory and create a PoC scenario ・After delivering the initial model, we will develop a structure that can be expanded within your company
Development	Engineer Development Training	Beginner: Basic operation of Plant Simulation and simple model creation Intermediate level: Detailed modeling using programming functions
Operation	Accompanying consultation	・Continuous support with monthly 2-hour meetings + problem-solving (6 hours) ・Proposal of solutions for model expansion and improvement themes