News & Blogs
Stay updated with the latest news, insights, and expert blogs from Emixa. Explore industry trends, digital innovations, and company updates all in one place.
Time for a Spring Cleaning? How to Make Your IT Smarter and More Secure
Does this sound familiar? Over the years, your IT landscape has mushroomed, but now you’ve lost track of what’s in place. You discover duplicate licences, underused applications, complex customisations, and systems that don’t integrate well. Meanwhile, costs and frustrations keep piling up. Many organisations struggle with unchecked growth in IT due to a lack of a clear IT strategy. This leads to inefficiencies, unnecessary expenses, and even security risks. It’s time for a spring cleaning!
Emixa helps GVB on its journey towards data-driven maintenance
Consultancy.nl, the platform for the consulting industry, published an article about our work for Amsterdam's public transport company GVB. How did we support GVB in getting ready for a data-driven future?
What is LEAN Manufacturing?
Lean manufacturing, also known as lean production, is a method of making production processes more efficient by reducing waste and optimising workflows. This is done by systematically analysing and continuously improving each part of the process. The aim is to use materials, time and labour as effectively as possible, leading to lower costs, higher productivity and better quality. A commonly used technique within lean is Just in Time (JIT), but both methods have a different focus. Lean focuses on optimising the entire production process and operational management, while JIT is mainly about smart inventory management. Although they are not the same, they complement each other. Many Lean tools, such as streamlined production flow, are used to achieve JIT goals. Both methods help companies minimise waste and create more value for customers.
The Digital Shopfloor Scan: Uncover Operational Improvements
The manufacturing industry is under increasing pressure to operate more efficiently, flexibly and competitively. Digitalisation plays an important role in this, but many companies struggle with the question of how best to tackle this transformation. Where to start? Which processes offer the most room for improvement? The Digital Shopfloor Scan helps you answer these questions.
Comfort Partners' Story: Getting Smarter Every Day with Data-Driven Working
Installation and maintenance company Comfort Partners represents a new generation of craftsmanship. We sat down with Roderick Soesman, who has been the company’s Managing Director for the past four years. What kind of transformation has the business undergone? How do they manage to work a little smarter every day using a data-driven approach? And what role does Emixa play in that journey?
Manufacturing Menu: Maximizing Human Capital with Modern HR Tools
Human capital is the engine that drives modern manufacturing. Of course, machines and technology play an important role, but as technology becomes more complex, you cannot do without the skilled people behind the buttons and on the shop floor. Soft skills are also important if you want to make your factory a well-oiled machine and achieve perfect interaction between the office and the shop floor.
Event Recap: Exploring the Future of Manufacturing, May 22nd 2024
Unveiling the Future if Manufacturing at Siemens Digital Experience Center.
Emixa and WSR Extend Technical Partnership for BTCC 2024
Emixa proudly announces the continuation of its technical partnership with West Surrey Racing (WSR) for the 2024 British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season. Building on a decade-long collaboration, this partnership leverages Emixa's expertise in Siemens Digital Industries Software to enhance WSR's competitive edge on the track.
The Benefits of Virtual Commissioning of Machines
As market demands for new products intensify, production companies face the challenge of adapting existing lines and commissioning new machines faster. Digital models offer a solution by allowing testing and validation even before the physical systems are installed. The key focus here is time savings, a critical factor in the highly competitive manufacturing landscape. The market's increasing demand for new products and variations shortens product life cycles, emphasising the need for reduced time-to-market. This time pressure extends to machine or line builders and high-tech suppliers, requiring fast delivery of new machines and adapted production lines. To meet these demands, companies are implementing complex systems and automation, leading to a growing presence of electronic components and control code. Before adding a new automation system to your manufacturing process, it's crucial to thoroughly check and test it. This ensures that the mechanical and electronic components in the control system work together seamlessly. Errors show up too late Discovering errors too late is a common challenge in the traditional commissioning process. The preparation for commissioning, involving checks and tests, is typically a physical procedure conducted on the actual machines. Consequently, commissioning occurs at the end of the development cycle, post-engineering and production completion. When errors surface at this stage, rectifying them often demands a substantial amount of time and financial resources. Identifying these problems earlier in the process could have led to quicker and more cost-effective solutions. And that's not to mention the extra pressure imposed by the client when the project is delayed. The client then cannot start production as planned and inevitably loses a lot of money. Another scenario involves adapting an existing production line, which requires a halt to make necessary component adjustments and conduct a test run. This interruption has considerable effects, causing production delays and significant time losses during testing. In practice, we see that many companies still follow this conventional approach, conducting machine or line commissioning on-site. This leads to considerable time loss compared to competitors who conduct digital commissioning tests. With a digital model, a digital twin of the production line or machine, companies can virtually simulate line adjustments or the integration of a new machine. Virtual commissioning In virtual commissioning, the written PLC code is linked to the virtual model instead of the physical one. This allows the validation of the entire line or machine operation at an early stage, with engineers visually observing the machine's performance. This visual aspect proves crucial in identifying minor errors or problems that might otherwise go unnoticed. If issues arise in the simulation, it is possible to quickly adjust the necessary elements within the digital model. This approach enables checking and adjusting the complete process control virtually before proceeding to the actual on-site construction once everything is in order. Digital models provide advantages for clients as well. They gain insight into the machine's eventual operation at an early stage, ensuring clear communication and refining client requirements early in the process. It also allows clients to train employees worldwide to operate the machine before the physical machine is built. Utilising the digital twin for designing, validating, and commissioning a line or machine has numerous benefits, including: Reduction in the total development time of each project Shorter commissioning period Reduction in total costs Importantly, this method not only results in significant time and money savings but also allows the existing line to continue production during the adaptation phase. It also ensures better scheduling and execution of the actual, physical adaptation of the line, minimising the impact on production staff. Get in touch Shifting to virtual testing and setup is a big move. At Emixa, we take a practical step-by-step approach. Curious to learn more? Contact us, and we'll provide further details.