Case studies

The Agent-based Turbine Operations & Maintenance (ATOM) model is a digital twin simulation model developed by decisionLab Ltd and Siemens. The digital twin emulates the global maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO) operations of Siemens’ aero-derivative gas turbine division. Driven by live data already available within the supply chain, the model provides the capability to use sophisticated simulation and data-analytics methodologies to optimize the fleet operations of Siemens, enabling better data-driven decision-making to improve productivity and efficiency in customer operations and asset management.

Microsoft is one of the largest tech companies in the world, with sales revenue of over 90 billion US dollars. The company has over 30,000 products with a large variation in life cycles, more than 13 contract manufacturers, and 12 distribution centers. Many of its sales come from selling physical devices, and this exposes the company to an accompanying level of complexity and uncertainty. In 2015, Goldratt Research Labs was contracted by Microsoft to design, validate, pilot, and implement an end-to-end Supply Chain Management solution based on Theory of Constraints best practices.

Engineering Ingegneria Informatica is an international specialist in the field of digital system integration. The company has more than 11,000 employees in more than 50 offices around the world. One of its flagship projects is an ecosystem of platforms that enable other technologies to interact with each other – exchanging value, digitizing processes, developing digital services, and creating value for users, especially through the leverage of 8D.

Walmart, the world’s largest retailer by revenue, was looking for an automation technology that would help complete orders faster and at a lower cost in the company’s fast-growing online grocery business. They wanted to evaluate Alert Innovation’s Goods-to-Person (GTP) concept, Alphabot (an AGV or robot-based system), which could automate the grocery pickup process by using autonomous mobile carts capable of operating in all three dimensions within a multilevel storage structure.

Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) is the largest construction company in the Middle East and ranks #18 internationally. CCC has offices and projects in over 40 countries, and a workforce of more than 130,000 employees. Just after contract signature of a site preparation project (earthmoving scope of approximately four million cubic meters), the client and local authorities placed new, more restrictive constraints on the operation. The newly placed constraints essentially meant that the project schedule will be severely impacted and with it the total cost to complete.

TranSystems is an architect and engineering company with over 25 years of modeling experience in the transportation industry. The company works on projects related to railroads, airports, seaports, roadways, transit supply chains, industrial facilities automation, and even quick service type operations in restaurants and hospital facilities.

CSX is a US railroad company that operates about 21,000 route miles (34,000 km). AnyLogic allows the railroad industry users to simulate line-of-road, terminal, and yard problems. The following three projects, completed by CSX in 2014, covered a variety of tasks that were solved using AnyLogic software.

The military aircraft maintenance turnaround process (the in-between time when the aircraft touches down, is refueled, rearmed, and inspected, in order to be released) is complex and, being fairly time-consuming, includes multiple interactions and parallel workflows. Engineers from Lockheed Martin, one of the largest companies in the aerospace, defense, security, and technologies industry, used AnyLogic simulation modeling to improve decision making in the entire military airplane turnaround process and evaluate the impact of process changes on turnaround time.

Transocean is one of the largest offshore drilling companies that provides rig-based well construction services worldwide. Offshore oil and gas well construction is a complex process that takes a considerable amount of time. It demands certain sequences of both manual and semi-automated operations carried out in unison, as safely and efficiently as possible. Different kinds of equipment are usually created and operated independently. However, at the rig, all technical units are integrated. Any kind of delay in machinery increases the critical time path, which reduces the efficiency of the overall performance, and can lead to financial losses.

CNH Industrial is a global leader in capital goods. It is financially controlled by the Italian investment company Exor and is comprised of 12 brands, including Case, New Holland, and Iveco. Through its brands, CNHi designs, produces, and sells a wide range of agricultural, industrial, and commercial vehicles and powertrains. CNH Industrial identified maintenance processes as a promising area to start applying new Industry 4.0 technologies. In the automotive and related industries, downtime costs can be large. As such, improving maintenance in order to reduce downtime can deliver significant success.