Plant engineers get more productive with cloud-based factory simulation platforms

ABI Research anticipates that by 2030, up to 172,000 users will have adopted cloud-based factory simulation platforms, helping create a US$4.1 billion factory simulation software market, including software that uses computer modelling to analyse how production might work in any given factory or situation and implement virtual commissioning to test proposed changes and upgrades before they are put into effect.

“Today, many manufacturing enterprises have started to use simulation software, but most have not yet realized the added benefits of using simulation software as part of a larger smart manufacturing platform or to virtually test other new technologies,” said Nick Finill, Principal Analyst at ABI Research.

He explained that cloud-based platforms can provide a similar interface for simulations from the different points of view of process engineers, operations support managers, plant engineers, and control engineers.

“Companies can assign user roles so that engineers only see and modify the details and information that they need for their job or level of expertise, and engineers in different locations can work on different parts of the same model. This increases data security, speeds up the simulation process, and makes the product easier to use,” concluded Finill.