Simulation as a Service

Simulation as a Service: CLS iMation innovation for anticipating digital transformation and concretely optimising intralogistics processes

An even more comprehensive consulting service backed by the real value of simulation, which further distinguishes CLS iMation from other system integrators and puts the company and its customers one step ahead in the future of logistics.

In order to complete a truly distinctive service as a system integrator and innovation consultant, CLS iMation has added a further important element to its own portfolio dedicated to Intelligent Solutions for Logistics Automation: iMation SaaS (Simulation as a Service), a service offered by CLS which is designed to assess the existing condition of a customer’s industrial context so as to identify – through the potential applications of simulation – warehousing aspects and solutions that can be optimised to improve the fluidity of processes. Simulation constitutes an important and distinctive part of the CLS consulting offer for assessing the interaction between existing systems and the advantages that can be obtained with the introduction of automatic solutions, in the case of traditional warehouses, or with the reorganisation of work flows for a tangible optimisation of tasks and productivity.

Anticipating critical aspects and offering solutions backed by analyses

Thanks to the opportunities offered by simulation, CLS is able to show a “preview” of warehouse aspects and solutions and processes that can be optimised. Thanks to timely analyses of data and variables it is possible to assess the interaction between existing systems and arrange alternative scenarios and solutions from the initial development phases.

Thanks to in-house skills and development, CLS iMation has created a service like simulation not only to add value to the design from a consulting perspective, but also to integrate an all-round service as a system integrator specialised in the optimisation of intralogistics processes, in order to provide an offer with the utmost flexibility, modularity and scalability.

From the design stage of a new plant to the re-engineering of an existing environment or virtual commissioning, CLS is able to practically show – by setting extremely detailed parameters and analyses – how processes can be digitalised and automated in the most efficient way, also by integrating them with traditional systems or machines, based on the inputs and actual needs of the customer which is accompanied step-by-step throughout all the analysis and consulting phases.

The right partner to plan for the future in a precise and risk-free way

iMation SaaS contains services applicable almost indiscriminately to any industrial context, or to various levels within a production system, including the individual production line, plant flow optimisation and the entire elements and processes of the supply chain.

Some of the main advantages offered by simulation are:

• Reduction of costs and of the time-to-market: changes required on existing systems would not be economically convenient. Through simulation, the costs and times are greatly reduced thanks to the possibility of identifying errors and bottlenecks in advance during a development or upgrading project.

– Repeatability: through simulation it is possible to observe the behaviour of a machine, plant or the entire production system by imposing or varying certain conditions outside the system, on the basis of the customer’s needs. Besides allowing a plant’s sturdiness to be assessed during any phase of the project, repeatability is useful for taking tactical or operating decisions on the basis of the results that are obtained.

“Besides studying solutions for optimising and automating customer processes, we are motivated to take further steps to offer an even more distinctive service and increasingly efficient solutions capable of predicting and anticipating possible future issues”, commented Michele Calabrese, the head of CLS iMation. “After having supplied automatic load-handling machines and introduced robot-operated systems for connecting production lines to automatic vehicles, we are now advancing in the simulation sector. This has a two-fold purpose: firstly, to aid sales activities so that we can show customers the value of our solutions through a realistic vision of the new processes proposed. Secondly, and above all, to offer even more comprehensive consulting services based on an effort to achieve specific performance targets, as well as to show customers real solutions and scenarios applicable to their situation. The ultimate aim is to provide a Digital Twin that can turn into a tool for end users for collecting and processing data from their own simulated plant, and to help them in the decision-making process at both a strategic and operating level. Moreover, we are assessing applications linked to the 3D vision to offer an immersive and engaging experience to customers since the design phase”.