SIMULATIONS AND DESIGN

Whether you need to solve a specific problem in an existing distribution center (DC) or design an entirely new facility from the ground up, Honeywell offers the most sophisticated simulation capabilities in the industry. This valuable consultative service minimizes your risk with exceptional degrees of reliability and predictability, enabling you to test and optimize before you build.

Within the system-level simulations are assets that have been developed with actual performance metrics from physical equipment to create a digital twin of your system or subsystem — an invaluable tool for concepting, developing and planning large integrated system solutions. 

You’ll see direct benefits today and tomorrow:

• Get the results you need — You can simulate entire systems or crucial subsystems, test alternate scenarios, find solutions to specific problems, and make adjustments to ensure optimum performance. It all happens in a virtual environment where changes are easily made before you commit to implementation.
• Reduce your risks — By validating system performance during the solution concepting and design phase, simulation gives you confidence that the solution’s design and functionalities will provide the results necessary to deliver the productivity required. 
• Make better-informed decisions — You’ll get a clear picture of how your equipment and process options will perform — now and in the future — while demonstrating measurable value to your stakeholders. You’ll also get a precise calculation of when you’ll see return on investment (ROI).
• Plan greenfield sites with maximum efficiency — Simulate systems or subsystems to validate throughputs, define operational constraints, and highlight system sensitivity.
• Upgrade existing sites with confidence — Emulate changes to operational conditions (such as staffing) or new mechanical systems to verify the effectiveness of proposed changes before implementation.

Using software and custom analytic tools, Honeywell’s operations and solutions development team can simulate the functions and performance of an entire DC system. More than calculations in a spreadsheet, you’ll see your design at work in an animated virtual environment that models everything from automated equipment to human labor. 

Thus, you can validate the performance of any given design using conditions specific to your operation’s current or anticipated needs. The Honeywell team will work with you to define the desired end result, tailoring the design as needed to find the solutions which deliver the best possible value. 

Simulation will give you valuable insights into the flexibility and scalability of your design. The digital twin of your system will provide a tool for accurately predicting your potential for growth, identify and correct chokepoints before you build, and streamline the implementation of future upgrades. 

You can also ensure that you’re prepared for challenges before they occur by modeling the impact of peak seasons, changes in consumer buying patterns, equipment breakdowns, chance events and other disruptions. Hundreds of possible scenarios can be run in as little as an hour, providing advance pictures of average performance over time.

Need to hit a new benchmark, solve a tough challenge, optimize a process, or test an innovative idea? Honeywell’s simulation models accurately reflect the unit-level handling of individual items by key automation components, including automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS), goods-to-person (GTP) and goods-to-robot (GTR) workstations, pick-and-place robotics, autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), robotic unloading, sortation and more. An exceptional level of accuracy is made possible by a customized data- and physics-based model that runs on the same software and control logic used in the real world.

Even if you’re not sure which solution you need, unit-level simulation can help you compare multiple options to identify the most efficient ways to achieve your target performance levels. You’ll get insights to:

• Where automation can provide the greatest benefits to your DC
• Which automation solutions to choose for maximum performance
• Accurate throughput and rate forecasts based on your specific product mix
• How any given component will impact other processes in your operation
• Where conveyors, storage systems or other solutions might be most effective 
• How many employees automation can free up for safer and higher-value jobs
• How quickly you can expect ROI 

In addition, any unit-level models you develop can be incorporated seamlessly into system-level designs, enhancing the overall simulation.

Honeywell simulations don’t just rely on software tools. Your digital twin will incorporate decades of material handling experience, plus millions of hours of real-world equipment performance data, testing and validation to ensure that each simulation accurately reflects the reality that will follow. 

This unique expertise underlies the entire simulation design process, ensuring that you get the full benefits of our proven reputation for strong deployments, effective project execution, future-shaping vision and world-class customer support.

Contact us today to learn more about how simulation can ensure that you get the right solution, without having to rely on trial and error.