Simulation Digital Twin Simulations Offer Valuable Insight in An Uncertain Future
Now more than ever, manufacturers are facing challenges on how to effectively manage their assets. In fact, 30% of assets in the average industrial plant are considered obsolete today, which leads to higher maintenance costs, extended downtime – and revenue loss.
Pressure from CAPEX constraints combined with commercial factors underscore the importance of identifying quick wins and boost global strategy to drive savings. In addition, budgets are further stretched with declining expertise of maintenance staff plus increasingly expensive prices and scarcity of spare parts.
Automotive giant Renault encountered these difficulties linked to the obsolescence of 5,000 assets in 8 of its factories in Europe. Jean Goutierre, Expert Leader Industrial Systems 4.0 at Renault, explains: “Probability of failure was rising, and we had to build a strategy to deal with when or how to replace aging assets under CAPEX constraints.”
Meanwhile, the overall value chain was at risk of being impacted because transparency was limited. “The main challenge was that we had local visibility with each plant managing its assets, but we didn’t have a global vision, or know what the budget amount and timing should be,” adds Goutierre.
The goal was to optimize the lifecycle of industrial assets, while maximizing return on investment. But how?
Needing a fast and tangible impact on its savings at local and global levels, Renault chose Cosmo Tech Simulation Digital Twins solutions.
The software was used to simulate unlimited “What-If” scenarios to test different asset obsolescence management strategies. It can also serve to run sensitivity analysis and generate “How-To” optimizations to ensure the robustness of asset management plans in the face of unexpected events.
“To control the risk of production loss in a CAPEX constrained environment, you have to consider what can happen in an uncertain future,” says Michel Morvan, Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of Cosmo Tech.
Cosmo Tech solutions let manufacturers gain insight on what might happen going forward by creating a replica of their entire operational system based on the best information available at the time of decision making.
The Simulation Digital Twin accounts for real-life elements that impact asset obsolescence, such as skill set, asset hierarchy, spare part prices, factories, workflow and financial resources.
Maintenance and renewal scenarios are tested on the twin to compare what happens according to different investment plans and risk mitigation initiatives over short, mid and long term periods. Difficult to predict and highly dependent on the operating conditions of the asset, reliability law is also taken into context, factoring in if the asset ages quickly (pessimistic) or slowly (optimistic).
With our Simuation Digital Twin technology, Renault was able on this use case scope to develop a robust strategy to significantly reduce CAPEX from €10 million per year down to €2 million to €5 million per year, followed by €10 million after 10 years.
“The tool let us expand our local strategy to a global one. We identified clear levers to lower risk and generate savings for each plant and each asset. We were also able to better negotiate target prices for spare parts with suppliers plus recognize how much could be saved by investing in training for our repair technicians,” highlights Goutierre.
“We didn’t have this knowledge before using the Cosmo Tech solution, and we are now convinced that new strategies can be developed for our other plants and assets like robots,” he adds.
“A Simulation Digital Twin can create great value and millions in savings, as seen for Renault, which saw a 30% improvement in effectiveness with the solution,” says Morvan.
The future is not like the past, and dynamic “what-if” simulations and “how-to” optimization scenarios are essential for successful planning.
“Our solution offers accurate forecasts so that you can understand what might happen on launch day and beyond, and that is the key to smarter asset management,” explains Morvan.
View the on-demand webinar now for more information at Cosmo Tech and Renault: Enterprise Digital Twins and Maintenance 4.0, the winning combo!
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