Ford creates virtual factory to simulate assembly-line process

In a statement, the company said the facility would help improve quality and cut costs in real-world manufacturing plants by creating and analysing computer simulations of vehicle production procedures.

‘We have already started work on our virtual factory project so that we won’t have to go to the real assembly line to conduct tests or research possible plant upgrades,’ said José Terrades, simulations engineer at Ford of Spain.

‘Virtual factories will enable Ford to preview and optimise the assembly of future models at any of our plants, anywhere in the world. With the advanced simulations and virtual environments we already have at our disposal, we believe this is something Ford can achieve in the very near future.’

In 1997, Ford was the first car maker to use computer simulations to plan vehicle assembly at facilities worldwide. Computer simulation is now integrated into Ford’s development processes.

‘The final assembly process simulations we use today allow us to do much more than simply plan our build sequences,’ said Nick Newman, implementation manager at Ford of Germany. ‘We can piece together complete cars in a virtual environment and assess the construction down to the finest detail, and we plan to implement this even more widely in the future.’