Start your digital factory journey

Each phase of the factory lifecycle can be the starting point for your digitalization journey. Even beginning with one part of a single phase delivers significant advantages.

Four phases to a smarter, faster factory

The digital factory spans the entire factory lifecycle. Discover the four main phases in this short video.

Plan, design, build, operate

Explore the digital factory's advantages phase by phase.

Plan

Plan with foresight, minimize risks Although the plan phase accounts for only a fraction of your factory’s total costs, it impacts later success significantly. Here, you can lay the foundation for greater foresight and fewer costly changes in the future.
  • Use digitalisation to seamlessly integrate production and manufacturing engineering input into your planning process.
  • Leverage insights from existing factories to inform and optimise new ones.
  • Plan for operational agility, asset commissioning, and maintenance cycles, right from the start.

Design

Collaborate seamlessly with all stakeholders Using digital tools, you can make sure architects, manufacturing engineers, and the construction teams are always on the same page and constantly aligned. Instead of having them operate in siloes, which may cause costly mistakes and major inefficiencies.
  • Allow architects to view and interact with the manufacturing machines while they're being sourced.
  • Enable production engineers to flag areas in the building design what might negatively impact the production line.
  • Let construction teams provide important updates impacting project schedules, ensuring transparency across teams.

Build

Deliver faster, reduce costly surprises Unexpected collisions between building structures and manufacturing machines are not uncommon. Digital construction processes make such problems visible already in the design phase, avoiding costly delays and rework.
  • Connect machinery specs from the manufacturing engineer's drawings to the architect's plans.
  • Make sure every machine is installed correctly.
  • Enable more efficient use of resources and reduce CO₂ emissions.

Operate

Increase agility and reduce costs The operate phase accounts for around 80% of a factory's lifetime costs. Here, the long-term economic viability and resilience of a plant is determined. Using the digital factory’s continuous data flows will tilt the scales in your favour.
  • Use all data gathered in the previous three phases to enhance operational decision-making.
  • Connect all departments to bring more agility to your production line through flexible manufacturing.
  • Reduce mistakes, rework, and unplanned downtime.

Adopting a modern, start-to-finish factory process

Our infographic contains more figures, data and facts to help you make your own business faster, better, and more digital.

3 significant benefits

Whether you’re dealing with an existing brownfield factory or starting from scratch with a greenfield project, transforming your operations into a seamlessly integrated digital ecosystem unlocks unmatched benefits.

Speed up time-to-market

Enable real-time collaboration between all project stakeholders for greater efficiency and productivity.

Reduce operational costs

Consolidate workflows and break down data silos to reduce costly errors and rework.

Avoid downtime

Continuously monitor and adapt your factory operations based on digital twin insights for optimal performance.

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Success story: A better electric car springs from modern factory design

e.GO manufactures a range of electric vehicles and is also pioneering modern factory design as a key to its business model: its smart factories and single digital platform keep all construction contractors on track.

“We’ll continue to feed the digital twin and keep it alive so we can continue to reap the benefits while the factory is in operation.”

Norbert Schmidt Digital Factory Expert, Viessmann
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Read our e-book

Learn how industry leaders are streamlining their operations with the help of digital factory planning tools.
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Success in action

See how our customers are benefiting from digital factory planning.
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Get in touch

Whether you're starting a digital factory from scratch or have already progressed in your digitalisation journey, we can support you every step of the way.

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Digital Factory Summary

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State of Design and Make 2024: Spotlight on Digital Factories

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