SimPlan AG turns 30 years

30 years ago, Sven Spieckermann, Dirk Wortmann and Roman Wortmann founded a company that is now the leading provider of simulation solutions for production and logistics on the German market. The introduction of the personal computer (PC) in many companies in the early 1990s enabled the widespread use of technologies such as sequence simulation, which had been applied with immense effort on mainframes and Unix workstations since the 1960s.

Parallel to the rapid development of computer hardware, software developers worked on improved simulation systems that allowed efficient application of simulation not only in large-scale projects in the automotive industry, but also made it economically viable for medium-sized planning projects. In addition to the software developers, SimPlan AG established itself as a consultant and service provider for all aspects of process simulation, because despite better software systems, the application of the technology required a high degree of mathematical-technical competence and experience.

The first customers from various industries were quickly acquired. While SimPlan mainly carried out projects as a service provider in the beginning, the company is now a supplier of simulation software as well as a developer and provider of systems such as

• SimAssist – a software for data analysis and visualization
• SimVSM – an app for capturing, visualizing, analyzing and simulating value streams
• SimQueue – an app for the rapid design of buffers in chained production systems
• PacSi – a simulation system for manufacturing and packaging plants for food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and chemicals

With 120 employees, SimPlan today manages projects worldwide, supporting companies in the introduction of simulation, setting up digital twins or the virtual commissioning of control systems.

With comprehensive solutions for the production sector as well as for the simulation of materials handling and storage systems, SimPlan has a complete portfolio for project management in all industries. In addition to industrial applications, SimPlan also supports hospitals, airports, municipal transport companies or Deutsche Bahn in optimizing their processes.

For 20 years, SimPlan has been involved in research at both national and European level. The results and findings from these projects flow into software development.

You can look forward to seeing how, for example, artificial intelligence will influence simulation technology or what role simulation will play in new planning approaches in the future. The potential of the technology and thus the goals that SimPlan has set itself are enormous.

Learn more about the SimPlan history and development in our new series of articles 30 years SimPlan.