Matthew Concannon from Visual8 Corporation presents at the IIE Annual conference and discusses how SIMUL8 is used at the University Toronto and how Visual8 support this, as well as showing a case study using SIMUL8 Planner - a planning and scheduling tool built using SIMUL8

1. Visual8 Corporation
IIE Annual Conference 2014 – SIMUL8 Presentation

2. Agenda
 Introduction to Visual8
 Background / Business Focus
 Industry Special
 University Partnerships
 Current Schools, Examples of Involvement
 SIMUL8-Planner Overview
 Case Study Example – Composites Manufacturing
 Conclusion – Q&A
2

3. Visual8 Overview
3
Background:
– Established in 1994, headquartered in Toronto, Ontario
– Industrial Engineering & Operations Research Consultants,
– Process Modeling/Optimization Experts, Software
Developers, ERP/MES Professionals
– Supporting productivity improvements through optimization,
simulation modeling and analysis
– Provide advanced planning and scheduling (APS) solutions to
satisfy unique operational requirements

4. Visual8 Overview
4
Business Focus:
– Simulation Consulting, Training & Support with SIMUL8
– Strategic & Tactical Level Decision Support
– Development and application use of SIMUL8-Planner and
optimization software
– Tailored APS software solutions with full integration into
commercial or legacy systems
– Operational Level Decision Support

5. Visual8 Overview
5
Industry Specialization:
– General Manufacturing, Distribution & Supply Chain
– Automotive, Plastics, Oil & Gas
– Mining, Smelting, Metals Processing
– Composites Manufacturing
– Food and Beverage

6. Partnerships with Universities
6
Visual8 actively supports a number of post-secondary
institutions who teach simulation using SIMUL8 including:
– University of Waterloo
– McMaster University
– Royal Military College
– University of Toronto
– Western University
– University of Saskatchewan

7. University of Toronto
7
Over 20 years working with Faculty of Applied Science &
Engineering, including:
Guest Lectures
– Case Study presentations of Simulation Applications
– Review example SIMUL8 Models
Lab Tutorials
– Mini SIMUL8 training sessions in computer labs for
students taking simulation courses
– Demonstrate SIMUL8 features and functionality

8. University of Toronto
8
SIMUL8 Case-Study Competition
– Simulation modeling competition for Engineering
students
– Provide SIMUL8 case-study and questions for students to
answer, judge submissions and declare winner(s)
PEY (Professional Experience Year)
– 12 to 16 month job placement program for 2nd and 3rd
year Engineering students
– Visual8 active in program since 2004 – have recruited
approx. 70% of PEY placements upon graduation!

9. University of Waterloo
9
Currently working with Department of Mathematics and
Computer Science:
Co-op Placements
– 3 month internship work term
– Active since 2006 – Computer Science, Operations
Research programs
Guest SIMUL8 Lectures
– Case Study presentations of Simulation Applications
– Demonstrate SIMUL8 features and functionality

10. SIMUL8-Planner Software
10
Overview
– Jointly developed by Visual8 Corporation and SIMUL8
– Leverages SIMUL8 simulation software technology
– Rich data import and export capabilities: XML, DDE, COM,
APIs for Excel and others
– Full ODBC compliance: successful implementations involving
SAP/Oracle, i2
– Supports Long-Term Planning, Detailed Scheduling,
Sequencing and “What-if” analysis
– Very fast response times to support near-real-time schedule
updates

11. SIMUL8-Planner Software
11
Sample Configurations
Strategic
Planning
Shop Floor
Scheduler
Shop Floor
Scheduler
Shop Floor
Scheduler
Orders &
Inventory
Schedules
ERP
MES /
SCADA
PLC’s
Order
Allocator
Order
Manage
ment
MES /
SCADA
ERP
Customer
Service
Long-Term
Plan
Jan Feb Mar ...
Customer  # # # ...
Product  # # # ...
Location  # # # ...
Orders &
Inventory
Plant
Status
Shop Floor
Data
Schedules
Local
Data Stores
Standalone System Integrated System
Distributed System
MES /
SCADA
MES /
SCADA
Corporate
Plant 1 Plant 2 Plant 3

12. Case Study Application
12
Aerospace Composites Manufacturing
Background
– Aerospace Composites manufacturer producing variety of
high-performance aircraft parts
– Company experiencing significant growth - facing
increasing demand and new production models
– Job shop environment - specific part routings through
various layup, trim, drill and cutting areas
– Batch processing through autoclaves (pressurized oven)
– Challenging production environment – confounding to
traditional workflow scheduling products

13. Case Study Application
13
Aerospace Composites Manufacturing
Process Flow

14. Case Study Application
14
Aerospace Composites Manufacturing
Slack: 26h
Expire: 10h
Slack: 20h
Expire: 4h
Slack: 13h
Expire: 8h
LAYUP AUTOCLAVE
Slack: 15h
Expire: 16h
Current
Autoclave WIP
Scenario Hours to Layup
Finish
Outcome
1 2 Wait
2 8 Do not wait
Autoclave Loading

15. Case Study Application
15
Aerospace Composites Manufacturing
?
Slack: 26h
Expire: 10h
Slack: 20h
Expire: 4h
Slack: 13h
Expire: 8h
Slack: 26h
Expire: 10h
Slack: 26h
Expire: 10h
Slack: 26h
Expire: 10h
Slack: 26h
Expire: 10h
Slack: 26h
Expire: 10h
Slack: 26h
Expire: 10h
Slack: 26h
Expire: 10h
Slack: 26h
Expire: 10h
Material
Expiry
# Parts
Slack
Time
Selecting the next cycle to run
Autoclave Loading

16. Case Study Application
16
Aerospace Composites Manufacturing
Solution
– Develop engineering simulation model of production
process using SIMUL8-Planner, including:
– main constraints (resources, molds, etc..)
– product routing rules
– autoclave batching/loading logic
– Run model using historical production data and validate
results
– Apply current/planned production, test out different
strategies/schedules, analyze results

17. Case Study Application
17
Aerospace Composites Manufacturing
Engineering Model

18. Case Study Application
18
Aerospace Composites Manufacturing
Benefits
– Ability to conduct “what-if” analysis for bottleneck
analysis, plant expansion/capital investment projects
– Determine appropriate resource levels and tooling
requirements to deliver planned program sets
– Improve Autoclave utilization
– Test feasibility of production schedules
– Incorporate scheduling optimization/heuristics, integrate
with ERP/MES to create Advance Planning & Scheduling
system

19. Conclusion
19
Questions & Answers
For more info visit our website:
www.visual8.com
Matthew Concannon
Manager, Modeling & Simulation Services
Matthew.c@visual8.com