Simulation software provides a competitive edge

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Feb 14, 2008

Sitec has adopted VC 3D-Create as the best value-for-money software for the simulation of complex, modular assembly systems.

Sitec Industrietechnologie is using three-dimensional (3D) manufacturing simulation and visualisation software from Visual Components (VC) to shorten the process of bidding, building and implementing complex industrial assembly systems, and to increase its competitive edge in a global market.

Founded in 1991 and based in Chemnitz (near Dresden) in Germany the Eur 30 million company has become a market leader in the planning, design, production and installation of complete assembly and hybrid industrial production lines, particularly for the automotive industry.

A key characteristic of Sitec's product range is modularity, exemplified by the company's Variomodul modular assembly system.

The range and flexibility of this system and others has created a major sales advantage, but new methods of simulating, visualising and testing increasingly complicated product configurations and variants became necessary, particularly at the planning and design stages.

"We use SolidWorks for product design and based on our CAD data we wanted to build a reusable library of simulation models", says Nico Nebel, a Sitec Application Engineer.

"Each model would represent a product family with a set of parameters to cover the wide range of modularity and functions".

"We would then be able to quickly assemble a layout to evaluate a proposed system's performance and ultimately speed the order to development process".

The company knew that existing process simulation software differed greatly in functionality and ranged in price from Eur 5000 to 50,000.

A rigorous search and analysis project was started to objectively and systematically compare potential solutions.

A reference model representing a typical "use-case" was selected as an evaluation benchmark.

Eleven leading suppliers were singled out and after careful screening four shortlisted, including VC.

VC's software, represented by the company's German reseller, Dualis IT Solution, scored highest in the evaluation and was selected as the preferred solution.

Sitec made the decision based on several factors: the integrated software offered the best and most comprehensive functionality at a price far below that demanded by larger suppliers.

However, the close support of Dualis both in creating a pre-sales reference model and providing other assistance greatly influenced the decision.

Positive comments from existing users and advanced technological features also played an important role.

"The unique 'drag-and-drop' technology of VC in combination with the intelligent 'plug and play' modularity of its software library - the only supplier able to offer this - means the simulation of various layouts and variations may be produced rapidly after the model library has been created", said Sitec's Nebel.

This is a vital benefit when new business bids have to be produced quickly but accurately, and various options or variants also need to be worked out.

Another factor influencing Sitec's decision was the ability of VC's 3D-Create software to support the marketing and sales departments.

When working with customers the presentation of the simulation model is almost photographic in quality.

The free viewer and the small file size of the model makes it possible to e-mail proposals and realistic demonstrations to customers for review.

During simulation the line speed, camera position and zoom may be easily changed.

Using VC's addon Media Toolkit, high-resolution images and videos can be generated.

The additional statistics module enables what-if questions to be asked.

With Dualis as a strong and reliable partner, Sitec has now adopted VC 3D-Create as the best value-for-money software for the simulation of complex, modular assembly systems for use within the bidding, development and implementation phases of its products and systems.

3DCreate will enable the company to ensure the concept-to-production solutions for customers are right-first-time, and provide a powerful and reusable management asset for not just planning, design, production and implementation, but also marketing and sales.