News about the release Plant Simulation 17 / 2201
In January the new version Plant Simulation 2201 was released. With the new version Siemens changed the counting method for all licences. The licence files (maintenance customers should have received them already) still contain version 17, but in the download area you will find version 2201 (22 for the year / 01 for the month). Below we present the new developments (source: Siemens).
Optimisation at the highest level with Tecnomatix digital manufacturing
Plant Simulation optimises manufacturing by modelling and simulating scenarios for production systems and their processes. With Tecnomatix Plant Simulation you can create simulation models that reflect your real shop floor in a digital model. The simulation models run quickly and reliably along a virtual timeline and can generate performance metrics in the same way as your real production system. Based on these results, you can make performance improvements and optimisations in early planning phases when the production system is not yet built or available.
Plant Simulation product development covers several areas in parallel. Siemens certainly wants to maintain its leading position in the market for material flow and logistics simulation. In addition, work is being done on topics such as PLM collaboration, virtual commissioning and web- and cloud-based use cases for material flow simulation.
The highlights of the new version:
Xcelerator Share
To help customers of all sizes take the next step in their productivity and gain additional competitive advantage, Siemens has launched Xcelerator as a Service (XaaS). This can significantly lower the barrier to entry for small businesses and reduce IT costs for companies of all sizes by bringing Xcelerator to the cloud. For Tecnomatix Plant Simulation, there are four key benefits to using Xcelerator Share:
First, there is the need for collaboration. Many engineering teams in manufacturing today do not work in a formally managed environment. For them, Xcelerator Share is a good option to collaborate more effectively on manufacturing systems modelling and simulation projects.
Secondly, while they can use generic tools such as email or web-based file sharing, these tools do not provide specific benefits for engineers’ work. Xcelerator Share provides this additional context through features such as sharing simulation models and viewing production system throughput, material flow and logistics simulation results.
Third, Xcelerator Share enables consistent work across teams by ensuring that all teams are working with the correct version of data or models, process templates, material flow and throughput simulations.
Fourth, Xcelerator Share enables decision makers to more easily view and understand the results of production system simulation models, at any time and on any device.
All of these benefits are available to any Tecnomatix Plant Simulation user, as the ability to work with Xcelerator Share is built into every digital manufacturing solution. Xcelerator Share ships with all Plant Simulation products and provides cloud file storage for Plant Simulation data types. Plant Simulation with Xcelerator Share allows you to securely share simulation models with colleagues outside your corporate network and provides role-based access control.
User interface
Plant Simulation 2201 has a revised graphical user interface (GUI). It now has the same colour scheme and standardised icons as the rest of the Tecnomatix digital manufacturing products.
AGV distance control
Plant Simulation 2201 offers two new sensor fields or distance zones for the transporter driving freely on the ground. A SimTalk method is called as soon as another transporter enters or leaves a distance zone. This allows you to easily determine the desired action of the transporter. A typical action is to stop one transporter behind another waiting at a loading position. Another is to reduce the speed of the transporter in a situation with oncoming traffic.
SimTalk HTTP functions
Version 2201 adds a number of predefined SimTalk functions for using the HTTP protocol to communicate with an external HTTP server. The online help documents all the details you need for this type of server communication in a programming language, including syntax and parameter usage of this SimTalk interface.
PatchMatrix object for fluid processing
In Plant Simulation 2201 you will now find the new PatchMatrix object for fluid processing. This object simplifies the model structure for common fluid engineering processes. When you make changes in the production programme, you often have to adapt the pipeline connections, e.g. between fluid tanks and filling stations. The PatchMatrix object ideally supports and simplifies such piping changes in your simulation model.
Value stream library SimVSM
The value stream library SimVSM, which we developed as a Siemens partner, has been extended in version 2201 to include the object Disassembly as a common station type for manufacturing processes. This update also provides some additional statistical values that help you to better understand and analyse the results of the value stream simulation.
These are just a few highlights of the many user improvements that come with the latest release. Full details of the new features of Tecnomatix Plant Simulation 2201 can be found in the Release Notes, which can be downloaded with the software.
