P&G Brings Design to Life
To minimize production losses and improve the efficiency of manufacturing operations at both new and existing facilities, The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) (www.pg.com) is using a plant design and optimization solution. Prior to building new facilities, P&G engineers use Tecnomatix FactoryCAD from Siemens PLM Software (www.siemens.com) to design and visualize different concepts for a proposed facility in 3D. "Seeing a layout in 3D brings it to life," says Brad Whitmore, technology section head, P&G Global Computer Aided Engineering. "We have a better idea what the final plan will look like because we have already seen it in the computer."
P&G also uses Tecnomatix FactoryFLOW to directly compare plant and equipment layouts to understand how people, fork trucks and materials flow to and from manufacturing lines. The additional use of Tecnomatix Plant Simulation allows P&G to optimize material flow, resource utilization and logistics.
Whitmore estimates the use of this software resulted in millions of dollars in cost savings across the global organization. One project saw a 33 percent increase in the utilization of factory space and 20 percent to 25 percent savings in the cost of moving materials.
Company at a Glance
P&G has more than 35 manufacturing plants handling the production of its products, like Tide, Pringles and Pampers, around the world.
P&G has more than 35 manufacturing plants handling the production of its products, like Tide, Pringles and Pampers, around the world.
Words of Wisdom
"In general computer modeling and simulation has saved 17 years in design time this past year alone." -- Brad Whitmore, P&G
Test Runs
P&G uses Tecnomatix FactoryFLOW as a screening tool to identify and select layouts that have the greatest potential before performing a detailed analysis with Plant Simulation.