Silence. It’s one of the worst things a factory owner can hear Monday morning. Instead of the air compressors humming to life, saws calibrating, and forklift back-up alerts echoing throughout the floor, the only thing felt is the deafening reality of a stalled line.
If you’ve owned a factory long enough, you’ll know that one layout decision misstep can cost more than lost downtime and revenue. It can mean missed deadlines, tense client relationships, expensive fixes, or worse. This is exactly what happened with an offsite manufacturer client I worked with recently. While we already had a 3D model in place, they chose to place a new saw without testing it in the model. During a call with them about another project, they mentioned this new saw. I opened their model and told them the column should have to move 2’ to the left for them to get access to the saw motor. They said that’s exactly what happened, and in the 30 seconds it took me to see that, they could’ve saved thousands in lost production and down time trying to move the column instead of planning for it in the beginning.
These types of mistakes are more common than we like to admit, no matter how experienced we are (or aren’t). It’s an example of what can happen when capable, intelligent leaders simply aren’t used to leveraging the new technology. Long established as a powerful tool in aerospace and automotive manufacturing, virtual simulation is now available to offsite manufacturing through 4Ward Factory. This innovation modernizes offsite construction plant design, workflow, and throughput.
From Static to Moving Factory
The biggest difference between a blueprint, 3D model, and simulation is movement. For decades, the standard has been to use two-dimensional AutoCAD drawings and blueprints when making layout decisions. Blueprints and even 3D models are static. With a 3D model, you can look at it, spin it around, and walk through it, but the factory operation itself isn’t in motion. While these are essential to facility design, they often fail to communicate how a factory will really operate.
In contrast, consider simulation like a cartoon. It’s a working operating model where you can watch a piece of lumber as it moves through your specific factory in timed steps as a truss is manufactured. For new facilities, 4Ward provides 3D modeling and simulation for truss manufacturing plants, wall panel operations, and modular construction factories by developing detailed digital models from architectural drawings and planned equipment specifications. For existing factories, a field team member goes on-site to capture the operation with a 3D camera and takes targeted measurements. From there, a working model is created with the building and equipment to scale. This 3D modeling as the first step is invaluable regardless of whether it’s a greenfield or brownfield environment.
For structural component plants and volumetric modular factories, adding simulation to the 3D model creates a smarter way to visualize workflow improvement. By evaluating changes in equipment placement, staffing, material flow, and production sequencing, manufacturers can identify bottlenecks, test alternative operating scenarios, and better understand how decisions in one area of the factory impact the entire production process.
For example, if you add an extra saw to your plant, now you’re creating more wood. Will you need an extra person to run the wood out to the tables? Using simulation allows you to play around with variables so you can accommodate efficiency changes across every step in your process.
Get Easier Buy-In from Investor to Workforce
Traditional 2D modeling creates a communication barrier for the majority of people in charge of making these decisions because visualizing a 3D real-world environment doesn’t come naturally to most people. This limitation creates uncertainty between investors, business owners, and operational leaders who need to understand how equipment, materials, and production processes interact so they can make well-informed decisions.
Simulation closes the gap between imagining what’s possible and being able to see what’s possible as if you were in the factory watching the workflow run. This is useful for owners who want to use it as part of their grant applications and marketing media to attract and train new hires, investor and lender presentations for new plants or repurposed factories, testing layouts, equipment and staffing changes, or planning greenfield and brownfield facilities before construction begins.
As 4Ward Solutions Group CEO Ben Hershey states, “That often means investing in equipment or technology, modifying the workforce, and then introducing these changes into new or existing workflows. Simulation gives owners and operators an unparalleled opportunity to evaluate factory layouts, workflows, and equipment placement scenarios before decisions are made.”
To get a simulation of your future or existing plant, the process starts with a discovery call with the 4Ward team. From there, a scoped proposal is presented that includes a 3D model as the foundation. Variables such as time studies are added depending on the goal of the simulation, and pricing varies. Watch an example of a truss plant simulation and contact us to schedule a demo and learn more.