Computer-Generated Manufacturing Plant

In today's dot.com-crazed business world, it's easy to forget that manufacturing still employs more than 18 million people, making it the fourth-largest industry in the United States.

One example of the extent to which computers have had an impact on manufacturing can be seen at the Keck Virtual Factory Lab at Georgia Institute of Technology (GIT) in Atlanta. Here, a real factory has been duplicated in digital form. Using this computational model, managers can study and design the logistics of moving material and process flow, and the control and communications activities associated with manufacturing. Ideas or proposed changes can be modeled, analyzed and reconfigured on the computer before they are instituted, ensuring efficiency, saving money and human capital, and avoiding errors.

In a laboratory study, GIT students developed a virtual model of a machine that assembles printed circuit boards for electronic devices. Utilizing board-design data, such as a listing of the electronic components that must be placed on the board by machine, the students programmed the model to minimize the amount of time it takes to produce a board. Then they ran experiments to improve cycle time. These particular models provide detailed computer-assisted simulations, as well as three-dimensional visualization and animation of machine operation, so students can see and understand complex behaviors, such as plant slowdowns.