Fujitsu Launches New Simulator For Visually Creating Product Assembly Configurations

Supporting efficient manufacturing for customers through easy use of 3D data

Fujitsu today announced the launch of a new version of its digital production preparation tool, FUJITSU Manufacturing Industry Solution VPS (Virtual Product and Process Simulator), developed by Digital Process Ltd., which supports product assembly process studies with 3D models. The new version, which adds functionality for creating product assembly configurations visually, will commence global availability(1) to the manufacturing industry, starting today.

This new version now offers “configuration blocks,” which by displaying component parts as shape images when incorporating product design CAD configurations into VPS assembly configurations, and expressing in a chart the relationships between the units, enables visual editing of assembly sequences. In addition, Fujitsu has strengthened its functionality such that changes in CAD data are immediately reflected in the VPS, with the aim of improving work quality and efficiency.

These changes have made it even easier to use 3D data in production preparation tasks, contributing to the shortening of development times and improvements in product quality.

VPS is a software package that covers the entire process of production preparation, using 3D model data of products created in CAD tools for product reviews, process reviews when assembling products, production line layout reviews, and creating documents used in manufacturing, in order to support the smooth start-up of mass production.

In order to turn 3D model data created in CAD programs into assembly process information, it is first necessary to change it from a CAD configuration into a configuration that has taken assembly configuration or assembly sequence into account. There has been a demand for a means to greatly reduce the amount of time and man-hours necessary for the editing tasks needed to create this assembly configuration for large numbers of components, as well as to reuse old product configurations. By offering this new VPS version, and strengthening its configuration creation functionality and performance, Fujitsu is supporting greater work efficiency for its manufacturing customers.

Key Product Features

– Stepped up support for assembly configuration creation and design changes cuts editing time

1. Added configuration block functionality greatly improves the efficiency of creating assembly configurations for large-scale products (VPS Digital Mockup and VPS Manufacturing)

When assembling large scale products, such as industrial machinery or copiers, which are made up of many units, each unit is assembled on separate lines, and then they are all combined on the final assembly line. When editing this sort of configuration in VPS from a CAD configuration, in previous VPS versions, users had to select the component for which they wished to change the configuration from the production flow, which listed all the components in order, or from the 3D view, which displayed the product as a whole, then execute the command to move it to another unit. This made it cumbersome to get a handle on which unit a component was currently part of, and which unit it should be moved to, as well as to execute the commands.

Now, Fujitsu has added the configuration block function, which displays shape images for each component, and displays the relationship between units as a chart. Users can easily edit the configuration as well as the assembly sequence visually, by dragging and dropping components to move them in the configuration block.

2. Improved display performance and greatly reduced time to reflect design changes in VPS (VPS Digital Mockup and VPS Manufacturing)

Fujitsu has strengthened the software’s ability to respond to design changes in a short period when, after editing has been done in VPS, the CAD data it is based on changes, without having to reflect design changes by hand. Now this function takes 1/100th of the processing time it did previously, further increasing work efficiency. In addition, display speeds for actions such as rotating, expanding, or shrinking the 3D model display has been greatly improved, providing a stress-free editing environment.

3. Realizing even greater accuracy in production line work flow path considerations (VPS GP4)

VPS GP4, which provides 3D trials of production line layouts and process studies, can automatically calculate the paths workers take in accordance with the layout, and simulate that movement. Now it has the capability to confirm if a worker is ascending or descending, for example, such as on a ladder, and can also detect collisions between workers, enabling more accurate work movement reviews.

– Strengthened viewing functionality (VPS Assembly Process Viewer)

Process flow diagrams (Assembly block diagrams) used in VPS Manufacturing and VPS Assembly Animation, which handle assembly trials, can now be viewed not only on iOS devices, but also on Android devices.

Sales Target                                                                                               Sales of 5 billion yen by the end of fiscal 2018 (Fujitsu’s fiscal year ends March 31).

(1) All product names and their features contained in this press release are specific to those available in Japan. Names of products outside of Japan may vary.