How have Cleveland Systems Engineering Ltd used Virtual Commissioning technology from Siemens to grow their business?
We recently caught up with their Managing Director Tam Ashcroft and Technical Director Chris Hewitt to discuss how Cleveland Systems Engineering has advanced over their 25 years of operation, and see the benefits of their Virtual Commissioning investment first-hand.
Our own Doug Benton asks Tam to share the ‘secret of his success’, and how he was inspired to experiment with Siemens PLM software.
Cleveland Systems Engineering believe in providing software that is ‘right first time‘, and to do so, the company invested in Siemens NX, PLM software used to create a Digital Twin of a machine. By creating a CAD of a workplace machine digitally, Siemens NX software can test the performance and faults of the virtual machine before its real-world counterpart is constructed.
Chris Hewitt explains which programs Cleveland Systems used under the Siemens NX umbrella to perfect the design of their virtual machine.
Within Siemens NX, Chris uses Siemens MCD to apply physics such as friction and mass to the Digital Twin, and works with SIMIT to simulate the motion control of the machine’s automation equipment. These are tied together by PLC SIM Advanced, the virtual PLC used to control the Digital Twin, and represent the performance of the real machine’s physical PLC.
Doug then takes us to see the completed Festo Cartesian machine assembled by Cleveland Systems Engineering, to the specifications of its Digital Twin.
Having completed the machine through the Virtual Commissioning process, Chris shares his belief that the software allows Cleveland Systems Engineering to reduce design time by at least 30%, and halve commissioning time on-site. Alongside these significant time efficiency improvements, it also becomes possible to create future machine upgrades virtually, before attempting modifications on the real-world machine.
Tam reinforces his belief that embracing the Digitalisation Era allowed his company to evolve and grow, and shares plans to adopt this strategy for many future customers to come. We at Parmley Graham have no doubt that the success seen by Cleveland Systems Engineering is set to shape the industry, and many companies will look to pave their future through the use of Siemens NX and the Virtual Commissioning process.
If your company could be the next to evolve through Virtual Commissioning and reduce commissioning time, send a message to our support team about Siemens NX, and we’ll be in touch to answer any questions.
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