Unlock Flexible Production Lines With Industrial Automation
Develop, integrate, manage and maintain flexible production lines with autonomous mobile robots (AMRs).
Shrinking product lifecycles and customer demand for mass customization are pushing line builders to shift from mass production to flexible, smart manufacturing. Escalating competitive forces and skills shortages accentuate the need for the comprehensive modernization of production facilities in today's manufacturing industries — central to the digital transformation in manufacturing.
In the next five years, 86% of manufacturers will invest in industrial automation solutions¹ to drive business competitiveness. As such, companies striving to maintain a competitive edge must integrate virtual twin technology and industrial robotics into manufacturing processes. As a digital replica of production lines, Dassault Systèmes' virtual twins offer a sandbox for experimentation and optimization — helping improve first-time-right rates, minimize commissioning delays and drive production line optimization significantly.
Flexibility, Modularity and Efficiency: The Next Frontier for Line Builders
1. Development
Accelerate the line development phase by:
- Creating virtual twins of lines with AMRs
- Sizing the number of AMRs needed in lines
- Virtually testing different scenarios before the physical build
- Identifying potential bottlenecks and optimizing AMR routes
2. Integration
Simulate AMR behaviors in the plant before implementation to:
- Test multiple scenarios for different production requirements
- Improve commissioning time
- Reduce total installation time
3. Management
Manage and monitor the status of the line and AMR fleet in real time to:
- Reduce downtime and unexpected shutdowns
- Improve resource utilization and increase productivity
4. After-Sales
Enhance after-sales service with the field service twin for:
- Improved maintainability to ensure the sustainability of service operations
- Performance and health monitoring leading to on-condition maintenance
- Predictive maintenance to deploy proactive actions
Proven Results From Industry Leaders
Powered by the cutting-edge 3DEXPERIENCE® platform, virtual twins empower line builders with unparalleled efficiency – to develop flexible and modular lines – and reduce commissioning time and costs by up to 70%.
With the ability to optimally monitor operational data and execute predictive maintenance, virtual twins enable manufacturers to operate at peak efficiency while minimizing production downtime. These advantages have allowed industry leaders to transform their operations with intelligent automation and robotics integration to break competitive frontiers.
Electroimpact
"Are we able to meet our customers' needs and provide the information they need seamlessly? Can we run the business better and more productively? Can our engineers collaborate and work effectively and efficiently? On all three counts, the 3DEXPERIENCE platform is helping us achieve those goals."
Ben Hempstead
Mechanical Engineering Lead and Chief of Staff
CenterLineLimited
"Dassault Systèmes' solutions have helped us design equipment to simulate the assembly in a virtual setting and anticipate problems we could run into when selling the equipment and programming the robots. It really gives us a leg up before we put the steel to the floor."
Marc Levesque
Director of Corporate Marketing
Yutaka Electronics
"The virtual twin experience by Dassault Systèmes enables us to integrate the commissioning process into the design work itself. While doing 3D modelling, we can carry out comprehensive operational checks of an entire system, including multiple robots. This will help us to eliminate early design flaws that have sometimes been overlooked in the past."
Daisuke Matsuo
General Manager of Advanced Technology Division
CNBM Triumph Robotics
"The 3DEXPERIENCE platform offered a holistic solution, with diverse modules covering all aspects of our digital scenarios. This is very appealing to us. Everything we do is now based on the PLM’s unified database, without causing duplicate designs or incorrect references."
Gao Changqi
Chief Engineer
What Leading Line Builders Have Achieved
- Up to 50% shorter development lead time
- Up to 50% faster commissioning time
- Up to 25% faster time to market
- Up to 20% reduction in service execution time
Dassault Systèmes' Executive Brief: Flexible Production For Line Builders contains the full strategy to help you develop, integrate, manage and maintain futureproof production lines with AMRs.
Flexible Production Lines Explained
A flexible manufacturing system (FMS) is an advanced, computer-controlled production setup that combines efficiency with adaptable manufacturing capabilities. It consists of three components:
Automated processing stations
- Computer numerical control (CNC) machines
- Automated workstations
- Robotic systems
Material handling system
- Automated material transportation
- Storage and retrieval systems
- Real-time tracking capabilities
Central control system
- Integrated computer control
- Storage and retrieval systems
- Real-time tracking capabilities
The system provides two primary types of flexibility: Machine flexibility, which is the ability to process different products and handle varying production requirements; and routing flexibility, which is the capability to use alternative paths through the system for production.
FMS is particularly valuable for manufacturers dealing with varying production volumes, frequent product changes and high customization requirements while maintaining efficient production standards.
By 2030, AMRs will be the cornerstone technology of flexibility on the factory floor, with a forecasted market size of $15 billion. The adoption of AMRs is steadily growing within factories and gradually supplanting traditional conveyor systems.
This establishes a modular and seamless production process – that accommodates customer-specific manufacturing requirements – while reducing reliance on rigid, maintenance-intensive conveyors. The transition enhances agility and efficiency while mitigating scrap, contamination risks, waste and losses.AMR integration allows production lines to be adapted to accommodate production changes such as product type and assortment size. In addition to rapid and efficient changeovers, seamless AMR integration supports the modular reconfiguration of lines to maintain quality and improve productivity.
The 3DEXPERIENCE platform's integrated 3D modeling capability enables line builders to virtually model and simulate production lines from concept to operations. This allows AMR movements, line layouts and plant ergonomics to be optimized virtually before deployment on the factory floor.
The 3DEXPERIENCE platform offers comprehensive visibility into the operational status of the AMR fleet and production lines. Real-time access to operational data enables proactive maintenance scheduling to ensure optimal performance and continuous improvement of service operations.
The platform facilitates advanced predictive maintenance through the integration of virtual twin technology, which leverages AI and machine learning to analyze equipment behavior patterns. The platform will streamline asset tracking, maintenance and repair processes – allowing for preventive identification of issues and improving overall equipment efficiency (OEE).
A manufacturer should consider implementing a flexible production line when:
- Product variety is high: The need to manufacture multiple product variants or entirely new products on the same line
- Market demands fluctuate: Frequent changes in customer demand require quick adjustments to production volumes
- Customization is critical: Customers increasingly request personalized or customized product variations
- Innovation cycles accelerate: Shorter product lifecycles and frequent new product introductions demand rapid manufacturing adaptability
- Operating costs need optimization: Looking to reduce inventory costs, minimize downtime during changeovers, and improve resource utilization
- Competitive pressure increases: Market competition requires faster time-to-market and more efficient production methods
- Automation integration is planned: Implementing technologies like autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) or other automated systems to enhance manufacturing flexibility
- Quality standards are rising: Need for consistent quality across different product variants while maintaining efficiency
- Space optimization is required: Limited factory floor space necessitates more efficient, adaptable production methods
Investing in flexible production lines becomes particularly valuable when manufacturers encounter several of these challenges simultaneously, as it offers a comprehensive solution for future-proofing operations.
¹Source: “2025 Manufacturing Industry Outlook” by Deloitte (November 2024)