Virtual Technology Advances in Factory Floor Planning
Factory floor planning is of paramount concern when designing a new factory or retooling an existing one. The floor plan has a major impact on costs, functionality and efficiency. Advances in virtual technology are profoundly affecting the floor planning process.
Virtual Technology Software:
Today's most sophisticated software enables the planner, designer, architect, engineer to design the floor plan in augmented, virtual reality. This software combines augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). The combination of VR and AR provide immense advances for factory floor planning.
Utilizing prescribed measurements, dimensions, and other data, designers can add virtually augmented equipment and personnel to the floor plan. The equipment and personnel can be viewed through a VR headset. Viewing can be done individually or simultaneously with the entire design team.
The implementation of virtual technology has broken ground in areas not considered previously. These include the unique flooring arrangements common to trade show events and mass production manufacturing. Given the site layout an event floor plan can be planned to extract maximum efficiency.
Benefits of Virtual Technology:
- Cost savings on new construction and upgrade projects.
- Equipment and layout can be virtually assessed for fit and functionality.
- Eliminates production process complications in virtual reality.
- Conduct trials and test ergonomics in VR.
- Close skills gaps by training employees using AR/VR technology.
- Improved worker safety.
- Shorten the time required to bring products to market.
- Enhanced inventory management using AR smart glasses.
Virtual Technology Bottom Line:
Designing a factory floor is a huge undertaking and mistakes in the floor plan can be crushing. Virtual factories allow the design team to see the production flow between all the various constituents (people, robots, equipment) before the physical plant begins to form.
As virtual technology continues to make major advances, its use in the design and modification of factory floor plans is becoming more common place. The answer to many efficiency, cost, safety and other floor planning problems may lie in the latest virtual technology software.
After using VR to optimize your factory floor setup, consider investing in a robust ERP solution such as VISIBILITY ERP to ensure that your shop floor runs as smoothly as planning it's setup. To learn more about VISIBILITY ERP click here.
Sources:
https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/7/17320910/microsoft-layout-hologram-tool-mixed-reality-build-2018
https://www.business.com/articles/virtual-reality-changing-manufacturing/
