MT Magazine January/February 2024

FEATURE STORY

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2024

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Siemens announced in November 2023 a $150-million investment in a new plant in Dallas-Fort Worth to produce electrical equipment for data centers. The company is using its digital twin and automation technologies for the construction and automation of the facility. That investment is part of $510 million being spent to build a new rail manufacturing facility in Lexington, North Carolina, and two electrical products plants – one in Grand Prairie, Texas, and the other in Pomona, California.

(manufacturing operation management) – likely home grown – operates between them. To transform to a digital manufacturing environment, silos need to be eliminated and multidisciplinary teams created where everyone works with the same digital backbone. One of the considerations, of course, is that unlike Siemens, which has developed its own full suite of software tools, most companies have software from various companies. So, just as the various job functions need to work collaboratively, Batra says that there is a need for interoperability between the various types of software in order to get the full value of an integrated digital manufacturing operation. His point about good use cases for the deployment of this approach is based on the acknowledgment that many operations in the United States have been around for several decades, and there is a need to modernize them instead of using this as an

“When you simulate the product, you want the same capability and design tools to design the layout of the plant,” Batra says, adding, “You model the production process along with the design process and put them together on a common data backbone.” The point is: Digital manufacturing, by its very design and nature, provides integration across the product and process development undertaking in a seamless manner and provides information about operational characteristics (of the product and the processes) not otherwise readily achieved. Of course, the big question is: How is this done? “It always starts with good use cases,” Batra answers. “It’s not one-size-fits-all for people.” He explains that, generally, in organizations, the domains of IT and manufacturing are strongly separated, and an MES (manufacturing execution system) or MOM