Thinking of the world of logistics as a function of assembly is extremely complex. An enormous number of interlinked processes and their specific restrictions are responsible for this complexity. For this reason, IPO.Plan GmbH, together with the technology pioneers Magna Steyr and Daimler, has developed a new generation of planning tools with which these complex relationships can be planned simply and intuitively. The latest software version offers unprecedented planning functionalities for logistics and assembly. Among other things, users plan efficiently in a holistic 3D model, so that every change can be directly seen and experienced. This ensures that the planning will be safe and feasible in the future.
The IPO.Log software has already been established for several years at numerous industrial manufacturing companies and car manufacturers. At that time, the focus was on planning and optimizing assembly. Already in the previous version, IPO.Log was able to impress with added values such as fast planning, efficiency in operations as well as high planning reliability for storage areas and assembly. The new version, which has been on the market since the end of June 2017, extends the functionality many times over. A further focal point is internal logistics planning. Now not only the areas themselves can be planned in detail, but also the relationships between them and internal material flows.
Holistic planning is calculated by a “line-back calculation” from production through various storage levels and transports back to the inflow of goods. Based on a production program, the required materials are provided by logistics at the individual assembly stations. Assembly and logistics processes are calculated dynamically, so that detailed statements about the required time and resources are made by different report functions.
Special highlights and world firsts are the dynamic tugger train planning and its evaluation directly in the layout in the form of the display of the dynamic traffic volume. Until now, no planning tool has been able to provide these functions.
The material flow with tugger trains can be fully planned in the software and delivers concrete results regarding the resource requirements already in an early planning phase. In the course of planning, the 3D model is continually updated, so that in later serial operation, logistics and assembly can be optimized in the “digital twin” on a daily basis and simulated on the basis of the individual production orders. IPO.Log 4 thus creates consistency from the first planning step through serial production to the end of production. Multi-user capability in the new version turns three-dimensional planning into a holistic “digital twin”. This provides the customer an enormous benefit in terms of plannability, speed and security in the implementation of planning.
Interested parties can book a special introductory offer at IPO.Plan until the end of the year.