Pace and bottlenecks — before buying equipment
The line is built in 3D from units: places, zones, buffers. The cycle time is built from unit phases, and the bottleneck is visible on screen.
The line is built on screen before it is built in the shop
Layout starts with a question: how much will the line produce and who in it will wait. The answer depends not on a placement picture but on how long each unit performs its phase and where products pile up.
In SyncTwin a line is a project of units: one 3D cell scene and its procedure. Units are taken from the catalogue of kinds or from your models and placed at their places. Between line zones there are buffers.
Each unit knows its phases — loading, program, unloading for a machine; transfer for a robot; travel for a conveyor. The cell procedure commands the phases and builds the line cycle from them.
From line composition to the bottleneck
| Step | What is done | What comes out |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Input data | Line composition, work zones, product, an example unit program | Specification of the “Your line twin” stage |
| 2. Scene of units | Catalogue units or your models — at cell places | The line in 3D in the browser |
| 3. Places and ports | Formal program places — Pick and Place — get actual points: the neighbouring conveyor, the floor | Unit programs are not edited for the line |
| 4. Links | Wires on the “Graph”: one unit’s output — another unit’s input | Flow of products and signals between units |
| 5. Unit phases | Phase time estimate before start-up — from the unit’s motion | Time of each phase |
| 6. Line cycle | The cell procedure sums the phases taking buffers into account | Cycle time and the unit holding the line |
| 7. Reachability | Plunges, collisions, fit — against one cell model | A list of findings before buying equipment |
| 8. Report and exchange | R&D report; the line description is exported to AutomationML | Calculated pace, bottlenecks, line model |
Steps 5–6 — calculating the cycle time from unit phases — are a subject of the implementation. The scene, places, links and reachability checks work in the platform.
Where the time estimate comes from
| Unit | Phase | Time estimate before start-up |
|---|---|---|
| Machine | Loading, program, unloading | From the cutting program toolpath |
| Robot | Transfer, flip, placement, seam | From the path and joint limits in the mechanism description |
| Conveyor, roller conveyor | Product feed | From path and speed |
| Unit with a PLC program | SFC cycle steps | From program motion blocks and delays |
A phase is a skill with parameters
A phase has input parameters — points, layer, program — that are read and changed from outside, and reported values after execution.
Constraints — from the model
Travel, reach and payload come from the mechanism description and drive profiles, not from a guess.
Calculation and measurement are different numbers
The estimate before start-up shows who holds the line. The actual cycle time is confirmed by a run on the equipment and goes into the test protocol.
Product flow and signal flow are different wires
Material link
Carries a product: its type, size, mass, position on the carrier and a nested buffer — for example, a pallet with packs. Needed to run the line with product physics.
Information link
Carries a signal without a product: place free, interlock, neighbour handshake, counter. No product is invented.
Zones and buffers
A project is one line zone. A line is a group of zones with ports; between zones stand buffers, and they decide whether a stop is passed to the neighbour.
A unit does not know its neighbours
The unit program declares ports, the project connects them. Moving units on the layout changes wires, not programs.
The safety circuit — separately
Emergency stop, doors and light curtains between cells are a separate hardware circuit, not a link on the graph.
Who needs a layout with cycle time
Process engineer
Sees which phase of which unit holds the line and checks reachability of places before ordering equipment.
Production manager
Gets the calculated pace and bottlenecks in the R&D report and decides on purchase by the model, not by the catalogue.
Integrator
Shows the customer the line in the browser and passes the same model on — into commissioning and the line shadow.
What can be brought into the scene
STEP assembly
The mechanism is assembled from a STEP assembly: links and joints are described on top of your designer’s geometry.
Mechanism description
An open mechanism description — in one file; a whole folder — mechanism and geometry in one move. A brought-in file is tagged “own file”.
Catalogue of kinds
Machines, arms, positioners, conveyors, fencing, a wrapper — kinds under our own or an open licence.
The mechanism is linked to the unit by joint name. If the joints are named differently, the file is not renamed: a name table is filled in. In detail — formats and library.
The layout model is not thrown away
Commissioning
The same units get real programs and are checked against the simulator. Virtual commissioning →
Exchange
The line description is exported to AutomationML: hierarchy, places, links. AutomationML →
Shadow
The same model runs in the simulator in parallel with the line; differences are visible at once. Line shadow →
The line on screen calculates its own pace
- The line scene — from unitsCatalogue units and your models at their places; buffers between zones.
- Phase time — from the unit’s motionA machine — by the program toolpath, a robot — by the path and joint limits, a conveyor — by path and speed.
- Cycle time and bottleneckThe cell procedure sums the phases and shows who holds the line.
- Reachability and collisionsPlunges, collisions and fit are checked against one cell model.
Calculating the line cycle time from unit phases is a subject of the implementation. The result of the “Your line twin” stage is an R&D report, a line model in the browser and a calculated pace.
From line composition to the calculated pace
- Input dataLine composition, work zones, product, an example program.
- Model and runThe line in 3D, unit phases run on screen.
- ReportCalculated pace and bottlenecks — in the R&D report.
Discuss an implementation
Describe the unit or line — we will tell you what we will verify and in what time. Target indicators are fixed in the implementation specification.
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