en.Wedoany.com Reported - Siemens Germany has released the "Smart Manufacturing Dual Engine" white paper, which focuses on empowering intelligent manufacturing and equipment engineering for Automotive Industry" target="_blank">new energy vehicles through a digital thread. It outlines 10 application scenarios and 37 innovative use cases. By leveraging a digital thread that runs through the entire process, the solution aims to help new energy vehicle companies shorten the production line setup cycle for new models, enhance flexible production capabilities, and ensure quality stability in mass production.

The new energy vehicle industry is developing rapidly, but companies face common challenges during transformation, such as traditional development models being unable to support rapid production launches, the disconnect between IT and OT systems limiting flexible responses, and the lack of cross-system data flows hindering the implementation of data-driven operations. Siemens proposes that companies need a set of "acceleration engines" running through the entire process to address this dilemma.

The solution released this time involves the coordinated operation of two digital threads. The Smart Manufacturing Digital Thread focuses on the entire lifecycle of the factory, covering five scenarios: concurrent engineering and process planning & validation, supplier collaborative management, production line installation & commissioning, production operations management, and production process optimization. The Advanced Equipment Engineering Digital Thread focuses on the R&D and delivery of production lines and equipment, covering five scenarios: bidding and customer requirements, equipment and production line design simulation & validation, electrical design, automation engineering, and virtual commissioning. The coordination of these two threads forms a continuous evolution closed loop of "Design-Manufacture-Use-Optimize."

The Siemens Xcelerator open digital business platform serves as the carrier for the solution's implementation, connecting industrial hardware, software, data, AI applications, and solution providers. It builds a closed-loop ecosystem of "industry customers - industry R&D investment institutions - distribution channels - ecosystem partners - Siemens internal resources," promoting collaborative innovation across the upstream and downstream of the industry chain.

In the concurrent engineering and process planning & validation scenario, the solution is data-centric. It builds a production digital twin through virtual manufacturing engineering, achieving efficient collaboration in process planning and validation, helping OEMs shorten production line development cycles and improve process quality.

In the supplier collaborative management scenario, the Smart Manufacturing Digital Thread connects data and processes between OEMs and equipment suppliers based on a unified platform, addressing issues of data silos and collaboration gaps.

In the production line installation & commissioning scenario, the solution leverages the AI assistant "AI Xiao Xi" to improve commissioning efficiency, uses the Process Simulate AR solution for automatic comparison between digital models and physical weld points, and automatically generates safety documentation through a safety assessment tool.

In the production operations management scenario, the solution achieves a manufacturing closed loop through MOM, connecting the entire chain of planning, process, quality, logistics, and equipment. It relies on the MOP manufacturing execution platform to integrate IT/OT and break down data silos.

Typical applications in the production process optimization scenario include Inspekto and the Industrial AI Suite supporting AI vision inspection and industrial AI operations management, as well as achieving flexible and efficient production logistics through intelligent fleet management, digital twin, and virtual commissioning technologies.

In the bidding and customer requirements alignment scenario, requirements are managed in a structured manner based on the Teamcenter platform, enabling rapid quotation through design standardization, modularization, and configuration.

The equipment and production line design simulation & validation scenario provides an integrated solution from conceptual design to multi-disciplinary simulation, completing most performance verification before physical prototype manufacturing through full-chain digital tools.

The electrical design scenario targets efficiency, standardization, and compliance. Tools like TIA Selection Tool and SIMARIS Therm support hardware selection, configuration, and temperature rise calculations, while the fully integrated electrical cabinet service provides standards and practical guidance.

The automation engineering scenario revolves around the core concept of "continuous integration workflow enabling modular equipment development," forming a solution matrix based on products like TIA Portal and Eigen Engineering Agent.

The equipment and production line virtual commissioning and physical commissioning scenario relies on digital twin technology to complete automation program verification and equipment performance validation in a virtual environment in advance, enabling multi-domain parallel development and reducing on-site commissioning time.

On the technical level, digital twins and artificial intelligence are widely integrated into the solution. Digital twins can complete production line cycle time verification, robot path checking, and interference simulation in a virtual environment. AI capabilities help quickly generate PLC code, improve inspection efficiency and accuracy, and reduce unplanned downtime through predictive maintenance.

In terms of ecosystem collaboration, partners such as Huayan Robot, Guangzhou Inte Intelligent Technology, Yizhiweisi, Xinbang Intelligent, and Yuejiang Technology have joined the platform. Huayan Robot specializes in motors and servo drives, ranking first in global collaborative robot export value in 2024. Guangzhou Inte Intelligent Technology provides a defect detection solution for die-cast parts based on its self-developed multi-view collaborative imaging system. Yizhiweisi has developed the M-DOS manufacturing decision-making intelligent agent platform based on a Multi-Agent architecture. Xinbang Intelligent, in collaboration with Siemens' Gongyi Magic Cube, has developed a flexible assembly solution. Yuejiang Technology has launched the wheeled humanoid robot Atom W for flexible material handling in automotive parts production lines.