Handling down 60% at GM

Using simulation software to validate its new inspection process, long before actual production begins, General Motors (GM) powertrain division reckons it’s reduced its material handling by more than two-thirds. “Using [Delmia’s] IGrip software to validate this new gauging process helped us achieve an overall reduction in materials handling by 60 to 80%,” says Diana Wegner, GM’s manager powertrain manufacturing validation group. “3D workcell simulation allowed us to determine the optimal setup in a virtual representation,” explains Rohit Khanolkar, senior simulation engineer for industrial automation consultancy firm, Applied Manufacturing Technology, who were asked by GM to verify the concept and optimise the plant layout. “It provided our engineering team with the capability to generate 3D simulations and to translate models created in other [software] packages.” IGrip can assign motion to moving elements of a model, such as robots and tooling, providing collision-detection between these systems. And it also has extensive programming capabilities to simulate controls logic, allowing elements within a workcell to interact.