Distributing 3D manufacturing simulations to realize the Digital Plant

In the field of Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) solutions are required for the simulation of entire production environments including all hardware and software components inside an installation. In this regard, the so-called Digital Plant became more and more important. Several tools based on simulation techniques exist which support the developing of new production automation solutions and factories. In contrast to this, we introduce an innovative approach to realize the Digital Plant. Rest upon 3D graphical simulation we are able to process enlarged simulation models using distributed computing of the complex environment. The flexibility of the evolved interface between simulator´s instances facilitates the coupling of other simulation tools to our system. Adapted from the identical interface we connect real controller systems to the partitions to simulate production control. The integration of the different software components extends the use of manufacturing simulation. In this article, we focus on distributing and simulating complex models to establish the base of the Digital Plant.