CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
15 July 2004
Product News
UGS Launches New Versions of E-factoryT Plant Layout and Material Handling Solutions
UGS announced the concurrent release of two E-factoryT applications: Factory CAD and Factory Flow Versions 9.0. Together, the two software solutions help users design more accurate digital representations of their plants, capture plant layouts for future re-use and optimize the flow of material through the plant.
Factory CAD and Factory Flow are part of the UGS' E-factory suite of digital manufacturing solutions. Factory CAD helps manufacturers create detailed 3D models of their plants. The software accelerates the process of plant layout by enabling users to design with "smart objects" that represent virtually all the resources used in a plant, from conveyors, mezzanines and cranes to material handling containers and operators. Factory Flow enables engineers to optimize plant layouts based on material flow distances, frequency and costs. Factory layouts are analyzed by using part routing information, material storage needs, material handling equipment specifications and part packaging information.
"These releases represent a concerted effort by our development teams to implement requirements from several prominent customers throughout the world," said Al Hufstetler, vice president of digital manufacturing product management at UGS. "The end result is that we've produced a factory layout and material handling optimization solution that is both more accurate and delivers results faster."
Factory CAD Version 9.0 offers several new features that give manufacturers the power to design more accurate plant layouts. Enhancements to the XML Object Builder enable users to design customized factory equipment that precisely reflects their company's equipment. In addition, the dialog boxes for defining these custom objects can be tailored to a company's specific requirements, simplifying the task of defining custom equipment in future designs.
Another feature that accelerates plant design through knowledge capture is the XML System Builder. This tool enables manufacturers to group a set of custom or standard objects together into a single system that can be parametrically defined. Enhancements to Factory CAD's Library Manager enable users to quickly and easily access these template-like system objects for re-use in other layouts.
Factory CAD Version 9.0 helps users not only design more accurate factories, but also simulate the operation of those factories. With the enhancements to its Simulation Data Exchange (SDX) utility, Factory CAD is more tightly linked to Tecnomatix Technologies' eM-Plant discrete event simulation solution. Users can now automatically launch simulations of their plant designs from within Factory CAD.
"The new version of Factory CAD gives manufacturers more power to design virtual plants that look and operate exactly like the real plants they will build," said Hufstetler.
Factory Flow Version 9.0 includes performance improvements that speed up its calculation functions by as much as 80 percent. This means users can conduct more "what-if" analyses on their material handling requirements in the same amount of time. One feature that contributes to getting faster answers from Factory Flow is a new Data Update Wizard. The new wizard makes it much easier to manage Factory Flow data and to handle data changes as users go through the 'what-if' process of analysis.
Factory Flow Version 9.0 also includes several enhancements that improve the way users work with tuggers-transport vehicles that pull one or more bins behind them in a train. A new route optimization solver helps companies design optimal tugger routes based on the number of tuggers, their capacity constraints, route times, timing windows for delivery and delivery precedence. Another key feature of Factory Flow Version 9.0 is an operator walk path utility that helps manufacturers design work cells to minimize operator walking time and distance. The new operator walk path routines enable users to animate and analyze the activities of one or more operators working at a station on the plant floor.
E-factory is a digital manufacturing solution from UGS that increases the profitability of manufacturers by improving the way their products are built. Developed specifically for companies with complex manufacturing processes whose success depends on bringing more products to market faster and for less cost, E-factory promotes efficient collaboration and informed decision-making, enables rapid response to product design changes, facilitates the use of best practices and ensures that defined processes will achieve anticipated results.
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