Ford Implements EAI's VisFactory Solution Suite for Factory Design and Analysis

Strategic Insights -

Ford Motor Company, a leading automotive manufacturer, has implemented Engineering Animation, Inc.'s (EAI) VisFactory solution suite, comprising FactoryCAD and FactoryFLOW, to enhance its factory design and analysis capabilities. By leveraging these solutions, Ford aims to reduce design time, improve efficiency, and minimize costly delays and overruns. EAI's VisFactory solution suite enables concurrent engineering of the entire factory, facilitating the creation, analysis, and presentation of visual factory models. The integration of FactoryCAD, FactoryFLOW, and VisMockUp enables Ford engineers to design, analyze, and visualize factory models before making changes to their actual factory layouts.

Key Takeaways:

  • Ford has implemented EAI's VisFactory solution suite for use in factory layout and analysis, utilizing FactoryCAD and FactoryFLOW.
  • FactoryCAD provides customized smart factory objects models, while FactoryFLOW offers analysis and planning for material handling, enabling concurrent engineering of the entire factory.
  • Integration with VisMockUp allows Ford engineers to view, fly-through, and animate factory models designed in VisFactory before making changes to their actual factory layouts.
  • Ford is using FactoryFLOW to evaluate and improve material handling methods and labor requirements, determining the optimal storage location, material handling route, and resource distribution.
  • The company is leveraging the co-developed SDX standard for process/simulation data exchange between factory modeling software and discrete event simulation programs, reducing simulation development time and ensuring model accuracy.
  • EAI's VisFactory solution suite enables Ford to identify potential problems that could cause costly delays and cost overruns, optimizing business practices, efficiency, quality, and time-to-market.

Statistics:

  • Ford engineers are using FactoryCAD to drag-and-drop standard factory equipment to build virtual factories, with built-in knowledge enabling objects to easily snap together to create logically connected production systems.
  • Ford's manufacturing engineers are using FactoryFLOW, which facilitates material handling engineers in determining the amount of storage needed, its optimal location, and the optimal material handling route for distributing resources.
  • SDX, a standard file format for exporting graphical and process information, enables Ford to reduce simulation development time and ensure model accuracy.

Sources:

  • Engineering Animation, Inc.'s press release, dated August 2, announcing Ford's implementation of EAI's FactoryCAD and FactoryFLOW.
  • EAI's corporate website, providing information on its VisFactory solution suite, e-Vis, Open Enterprise Visualization, and Virtual Factory solutions.
  • Ford Motor Company's website, detailing its manufacturing process and initiatives.