Cooperation Siemens
Digital twin at Kurtz
International competition and cost pressure mean that there is less and less time between ordering and delivery. What used to be largely individual machines are now completely networked systems with automation, which are supplied by Kurtz for the production of cast or particle foam parts and commissioned on site. Our goals are to minimize errors in advance and to reduce construction site times.
The digital twin plays a key role in meeting these challenges. Kurtz has been working on the implementation of this project in cooperation with Siemens AG for a good year now. First of all, the various data from mechanical design, electrical engineering and software had to be brought together in one system.
Kurtz uses the Mechatronics Concept Designer (MCD) in combination with PLC Advanced from Siemens as a tool for this. This not only brings together the various data sources, but also simulates the mechanical and electrical behavior of machines in a system and integrates automation. Once the machines have been brought into the virtual world, software, functions and interfaces to other systems can be tested without the associated hardware being available. This provides Kurtz with a number of advantages – the reduction of costs and risks during new commissioning is only one aspect here. In the event of a fault, the system data is read out and the situation in the digital twin is simulated. As a result, the problem can be analysed more quickly and often resolved without an employee being on site. Likewise, new software functions can be tested offline and then installed remotely at the customer´s site without causing long downtimes.
Machine presentation via 3D model
Already during the conceptual design with the sales configurator developed by Kurtz on the basis of MCD, the sales department can present the future plant layouts with moving 3D models of the machines. The digital twin also opens up completely new possibilities for service. Training is simply carried out on the digital twin while the customer´s equipment may be on its way to him or her in a container. After installation on site, the trained personnel can start production immediately.
In the future, Kurtz would like to expand the scope of the digital machine twins to include the process module. By connecting SIMT – a simulation system with libraries from Siemens – to MCD, not only mechanical movements or signal exchanges are to be simulated, but also process sequences. This should bring the behavior of, for example, hydraulic or fluid systems during the process even closer to reality. A FLOWNET library is available as a basis, which already contains some standard values for thermodynamic variables and can be extended with own real values.
The speed of development is increasing and with the virtual commissioning we keep up the pace and even go ahead. Together with Siemens, we have taken the first step into the digital age of machine development – with many advantages for our customers.