Digital factory software links production planning and automation solution

The new 3.0 version of Simatic Automation Designer automatically generates WinCC projects for operator control and process visualization for machines and plants. Automation Designer, a universal component of the digital factory for all industrial sectors, was already able to automatically generate control programs, for example for the Simatic S7 controller.

Simatic Automation Designer 3.0 provides a comprehensive view of the configuration data for plant automation systems, from plant engineering, mechanical and electrical design to the automation solution itself. This embraces the entire life cycle of a production facility, from plant design to full-scale operation. Thanks to interdisciplinary and parallel data usage, the digital engineering software from Siemens helps the user to speed up implementation of the engineering concept as an automation solution.

The user works with a uniform user interface for all stages of the process. He adopts the data from the planning phase, employs re-usable templates for equipment and then graphically configures the automation solution. All the data required for the planning process are summarized in libraries and Simatic Automation Designer ensures high-quality planning based on data consistency and re-usability.

The Siemens software is compatible with all types of system environment. For example, the integrated Flexible Generator can be used to generate FlexGen data for a wide range of target systems on the basis of source text files. Moreover, software for modeling and simulating production systems and processes, such as the Plant Simulation software from Siemens PLM Software, can be linked up via an XML data interface.