The Homag Group produces machines and systems for customers in the home and office furniture, kitchens, parquet and laminate flooring, windows, doors, staircases and complete timber system houses sectors. © Homag Group

Homag and ISG met for initial discussions in the fall of 2016, and the project for the company-wide rollout of ISG-virtuos began in the spring of 2017, allowing Homag to present the first results at the end of May at Ligna, the leading trade fair for machines, systems and tools for woodworking and wood processing. There was no specific project schedule. "Our teams already know each other very well from previous projects and are therefore closely connected," says Zetzsche. "What we particularly appreciate about working with ISG is the company's visionary thinking and high level of consulting expertise. When we have a new idea, we are sure that ISG will implement it to our complete satisfaction." Several business units at different locations are now working with ISG-virtuos. In order to drive development forward within the company, Homag has set up a core competence team which, independently of the business units, promotes further development in line with requirements and develops its own set of rules.

Needs-based configuration

ISG-virtuos is so user-friendly that you can learn how to use the software as part of a two-day basic training course. The uncomplicated handling is a clear advantage given the fact that the hardware-in-the-loop solution is a closed system that already contains all the necessary functions. The solution consists of various standard modules that can be combined as required. A simulation library contains all the basic elements, which can be individually adapted and integrated via interfaces. Simulations for all assemblies are stored in Homag's own technology library, which can then be configured as required.

On this basis, Homag has now realized numerous developments without having to produce prototypes in advance. Instead, it is now possible to check mechanical designs in advance. Do the layouts, dimensions and transportation fit? If the manufacturers install or order the wrong components, Homag notices this error immediately thanks to ISG-virtuos.

In order to be able to produce furniture in the kitchen segment "just-in-time", for example, a production system has to process many different pieces of wood in different dimensions one after the other. If there is a workpiece whose dimensions have not been taken into account in advance, this could lead to a collision and thus to a production stop. Thanks to virtual commissioning, in which the real and virtual machines behave identically - differences in the behavior of both are less than a millisecond - Homag can even test running systems without disrupting production. In doing so, the plant manufacturer uses differential analysis to detect software or wiring errors in the control cabinet, for example, and can even identify defective parts such as motors or drive shafts. "In the past, drives were usually idealized in simulations," explains Zetzsche. "Today, our drive manufacturers supply their drive models and we transfer them to the digital twin of the system. The deviation of the models in the virtual drives is then less than one percent. So we no longer have a mere simulation, but an extremely realistic digital twin of the system. The virtual drive can also be configured like a real drive."

Further cooperation planned

Homag has proven that production time can be significantly reduced. Further cooperation between ISG and Homag is therefore definitely planned. "ISG is a strong, dynamic development partner for us," says Michael Zetzsche. Homag not only wants to integrate further assemblies into ISG-virtuos and use new interfaces for further tests, but also invest in technology in the future to be able to automatically create simulation models - the basis for fully automated production scenarios.

Michael Zetzsche is Senior Manager Control Development Edge Processing in the Edge business unit at Homag. © Homag Group

The company is working towards the goal of being able to run through the entire process virtually so as not to interfere with ongoing operations. A virtual cloud connection is also planned so that the simulations can be run from any location and the business units can be networked with each other worldwide. In addition to the connection of a "virtual operator" who carries out recurring tasks, a solution is also being considered that carries out all tests automatically. Industry 4.0 is already a reality for Homag.

Jessica Baum, freelance editor from Offenbach / am