Salas O’Brien is a North American engineering and technical services firm that serves government and private sector clients across various industries.
- Meet increasing capacity demands
- Verify project scope requirements
- Identify and address critical gaps in capital project plan
- Better inform investment decisions and request
- Arena® simulation software
- Emulate3D™ digital twin software
- Adequately determined equipment and financial resource requirements
- Reduced expansion schedule
- Enhanced sustainability
- Ability to use model for future needs
John Glenski is the former President of the Plus Group and now serves as Senior Director of Industry Strategy, Automation and Digital for Salas O’Brien, a North American engineering and technical services firm that acquired the Plus Group in 2023. Salas O’Brien recently joined the Rockwell Automation Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) Partner Program and previously the Plus Group was a long-time member of the Rockwell Automation PartnerNetwork™.
Challenge
Fully informed capital decisions
Salas O’Brien serves government and private sector clients across various industries, including food and beverage. A major client in that sector was facing growing capacity demands.
“They were planning to expand one of their largest facilities,” Glenski explained. “It was a very complex project and they wanted to understand how to increase capacity and upgrade systems before committing to significant capital investment.”
The client engaged Glenski’s team to create a process simulation that depicted existing operations and then use the model to determine the scope of needed upgrades.
Solution
A perfect test case for digital twin simulation and modeling
“This was a perfect test case to use a digital twin and perform process scenario modeling to help our client make good business decisions,” Glenski said. “For so long this kind of technology was kind of futuristic but it’s here now, and if you’re a manufacturer that’s not using this, you can fall behind your peers.”
Working closely with their client to gain a thorough understanding of all production processes and requirements, Glenski’s team used Arena® simulation software and Emulate3D™ digital twin software to simulate existing operations and test potential upgrades.
“The modeling was completed before they made their capital request so they could understand how much budget was needed,” Glenski explained. “One of the great benefits of a digital twin is you can work through the actual nuts and bolts, and model for different scenarios to ascertain if you need more or less resources.”
This approach allowed the company to test the planned process upgrades across all key scenarios and identify gaps that might exist in the capital project plan.
Result
Confirm adequate resources and goals would be met
Simulation planning and modeling revealed that the client needed more equipment and capacity than originally planned to meet their production requirements.
“They were happy to find that out long before they put a shovel in the ground. The model allowed our client to ensure that key project goals were achieved and accurately determine the investment required,” Glenski said. “Knowing that upfront was crucial because you don’t want to divert capital from another project to satisfy a project that's already moving forward.”
Even though the client learned more investment and resources were needed, simulation and modeling enabled them to reduce their expansion schedule.
A foundation for the future
With a full simulation of their process and production from in-bound raw materials to packaging load-out, the client can also use the facility’s digital twin for future scenario testing.
“That's one of the great things about the Arena software and its capabilities. Our client has a living model of their entire facility to use in the future if they're looking to alter or increase production or expand,” Glenski explained. “It can really drive production optimization.”
That model and the information it contains, Glenski added, also provides a baseline for their client to more quickly implement and use generative artificial intelligence capabilities to share best practices and methodologies throughout the enterprise.
“So often when we go into facilities and manufacturing plants, we find there is a lack of resources to understand and fix a problem,” Glenski said. “But now you have a repository of troubleshooting and training information that stays around forever regardless of what happens with employee turnover. It’s an exciting capability and competitive advantage that will transform manufacturing.”
Published September 17, 2024