CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
19 December 2007
Implementation Investments
Dassault Systèmes: MAN Optimizes New Truck Assembly Plant with Dassault Systèmes' DELMIA Process Engineer
Dassault Systèmes ( DS ) announced that its DELMIA Process Engineer software is being implemented by MAN Nutzfahrzeuge AG to help design and construct its new truck manufacturing facility near Krakow, leveraging best practice knowledge gained from its existing plants in Munich and Salzgitter. The new facility will produce TGA Worldwide trucks, a model specially designed to meet East European market requirements. Through 3D visualization of the building and workcell layout, DELMIA is helping MAN minimize costs and potential production problems.
"We were able to considerably minimize costs and problems through simulation. We have already achieved significant synergies among the logistics, technology and assembly divisions, we're a long way from exhausting all possibilities and will continue to review processes with DELMIA." said MAN planner Thorsten Franz. A truck consists of about 6,500 parts delivered in containers to the workstations. Each container of parts must be available at the right time and the right place in order to keep production flowing. The DELMIA simulation of the facility revealed how the original plans would have led to the concentration of materials at certain locations and rendered feasible work processes impossible.
MAN began by developing an initial draft plan of the new plant in Process Engineer using different assembly lines complete with line balancing on the various stations, such as framework construction, painting systems, wheel, cab and motor assembly. Then MAN used the software to configure alternative manufacturing designs, systems layouts, material handling, tests for use ability, and the supply concept. Additionally, line balancing and cycle periods were all placed in context, then visualized and optimized.
DELMIA Process Engineer provides a comprehensive treatment of the relationships between product, process, and manufacturing resource data, including plant layout. It allows the planner to play out various scenarios to determine, for example, the optimum model mix or number of employees required to accomplish a certain task. This helps to avoid planning mistakes and obtain a precise overview in the process of the required investment costs, production space, and manpower.
About MAN
MAN Nutzfahrzeuge is one of the leading providers in the international commercial vehicle industry. Starting from its core market in Western Europe MAN Nutzfahrzeuge is already successful in the growth markets of Eastern Europe and Asia. MAN Nutzfahrzeuge offers customer-orientated products and solutions throughout the world - tailored to sectors of the industry and to transport tasks: trucks from the Light, Medium and Heavy Ranges via special-purpose vehicles, buses and coaches to engines and components.
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