Test plant changes on a model first

Plants simulate changes to production lines in advance in a digital twin

Future prospectAI Act: no extra obligationsDesigning & simulatingMechanical engineering & manufacturing, Automotive

Fits: Production, engineering & maintenance · Research & development

Goal: a modification runs first in the computer model of the plant, and only then on the shop floor. Errors in control and process show up before the line stops. To be honest: many plants know the method, but so far few use it day to day, mostly large plants in pilots. The effort lies in the model: without reliable plant and sensor data the simulation tells you nothing, and the further the change is from what is known, the less it holds.

Is this for you?

  • You regularly change something on existing lines and pay for every planning error with downtime.
  • For the plant section concerned, there are usable documents and recorded sensor and control data.
  • You can start with one plant section and end the project if the model does not match reality.
First step today

Without access to your control system: use the template below to get an overview, with sources, of where digital plant models and virtual commissioning stand, and from it define the questions to check against your data and the pilot criteria.

How to go about it

  1. Define the plant section, question and stop criteria
  2. Provide plant documents and sensor data
  3. Have variants of the change calculated
  4. Check against the known current state
  5. Confirm the chosen variant on the shop floor
  6. Feed measurements back into the model

Templates to copy

Try it now
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Plan the rollout
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Included in the training

The complete guide

  • 6 steps explaining exactly what to do
  • 3 proven templates to copy into your own AI
  • Safe use: data, checking, deciding, informing
  • Pitfalls, effort and how to recognise success

With the training you get all 430 guides for as long as your access runs.

See the trainingOne-off per person, no subscription

Same approach, other use cases

15 more use cases follow the pattern “Designing & simulating”.

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MB-06 · Legal status 08.10.2026