Winner of Tecnomatix Plant Simulation Challenges global student competition Task 1 shared his success story

The Tecnomatix Plant Simulation Challenges global student competition (Task 1) took place from April 04, 2022, to June 30, 2022. Task description is available in English, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Thai. For the competition, students can download the Plant Simulation student edition. The Tecnomatix Plant Simulation software is used for modeling, simulating, analyzing, visualizing, and optimizing production systems, logistics, and processes.

The first task asked participants to simulate a highway charging station for electric vehicles and optimize the number of charging stations. Plant Simulation Challenge Task 2 asks the participants to simulate a new final assembly line for electric vehicles of a major car manufacturer. The third task will happen in October 2022. Stay tuned!

The Chinese winner of the first task, Wang Jingjie, is currently a master’s student majoring in industrial engineering at the School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering of Kunming University of Science and Technology His main research direction is complex workshop modeling and optimization scheduling algorithms. Jingjie has been learning and using Plant Simulation for over a year, even though his school does not offer a course on Plant Simulation software. Below, the winner shared his learning journey with Plant Simulation and his experience participating in the challenge.

The work uses a variety of tools, including the Test Manager, to validate the model and provide corresponding reports and data support. Clear thinking, concise model, on the basis of proficiency in the use of Plant Simulation, can abstract the specific problem modeling, verification, is a very good work.

– Siemens reviewers

Getting first started with Tecnomatix Plant Simulation

Wang Jingjie learned about this competition through the WeChat public account “Siemens Digital Industrial Software.” Using Plant Simulation for his daily research work, Wang Jingjie had a keen interest in simulation modeling and was motivated to participate in this event. He hoped participating in this event would validate and improve his ability to apply Plant Simulation in his daily work.

During his undergraduate internship, Wang Jingjie was involved in a planning consulting project for the construction of a digital factory in a company – his first exposure to Plant Simulation, a factory-level simulation software. He immediately got interested in this simulation software. Many large enterprises in China have started using Plant Simulation to implement plant design and optimization.

The software’s help documentation and sample models are the best learning materials that helped Wang Jingjie to get started. The help documentation that comes with the Plant Simulation software is very detailed, and learners can quickly get help with each object created in the software to understand its function. The sample model is also easy to understand, and learners can find many real-world use cases in the example model.

Study process of Plant Simulation and ideas for future development.

Implementing a simulation project is an iterative process: a clarified goal, a planned, constructed, and verified model, obtained data, and adjusted and repeated parameters. Simulation experiments, analyze the experimental results, and get the final simulation report. Participants need patience and meticulousness when implementing projects. Wang Jingjie aspires to become a simulation engineer in the future and help companies plan.

Setbacks and problems encountered

The contest took about a week from problem analysis to model submission. There are no specific requirements for the vehicle scheduling strategy in this competition, but the real and optimized vehicle scheduling strategy significantly impacts the simulation results. The request processing method of “push-pull combination” is adopted in the vehicle charging station assignment process, combined with control strategies such as first-in, first-out, and balanced use of charging stations. Wang Jingjie needed to make such adaptations such that the vehicle charging process is more in line with the actual working conditions.

Siemens Profile Aid

For beginners, the software’s help documentation and sample models are the best learning materials. The help documentation that comes with the Plant Simulation software is very detailed, and learners can quickly get help with each object created in the software to understand its function. The sample model is also easy to understand, where learners can find many real-world use cases in the example model. Plant Simulation 2021’s Chinese documentation helped Wang Jingjie out a lot.

Suggestions for future participants and the challenge

Wang Jingjie suggests that the competition should increase the publicity channels so that more students can learn about the contest through different channels. For example, through communication with the school, Siemens can post relevant activity information on the school’s official website. At the same time, it is recommended to establish a team competition, which is more conducive to forming a positive and enthusiastic competition atmosphere and attracting more students to participate in it.

This challenge is a great way to practice and improve modeling skills using Plant Simulation. The tasks in the challenge may seem simple, but many factors are easily overlooked, and the tasks need to be carefully analyzed and cleared to solve the problem. Future participants should actively participate in such competitions, which will help learners improve their abilities.

Prizes and Credentials for winners

All participants that enter reasonable solutions will receive a digital badge for their participation. These digital badges are certified awards that you can use to prove your Plant Simulation knowledge in your own social media circles.

• First place will be given a Microsoft Surface Go 3, 10 Zoll 2-in-1 Tablet (Intel Pentium Gold, 4GB RAM, 64GB eMMC, Windows 11 Home S) Platin and a digital badge acknowledging you as a true Plant Simulation Champion!
• Second place will be given a powerful Bluetooth Wireless Speaker and a digital badge acknowledging you as the second place true Plant Simulation Champion!
• Third place will be given a Connected Smart Watch and a digital badge acknowledging you as the third place true Plant Simulation Champion!