page_title: Digital manufacturing
section_title: Simulation
hierarchical_section_title: Digital manufacturing / Simulation
caption_attribution_description: English: Robotic simulation using Robcad software for virtual manufacturing
context_page_description: Digital manufacturing is an integrated approach to manufacturing that is centered around a computer system. The transition to digital manufacturing has become more popular with the rise in the quantity and quality of computer systems in manufacturing plants. As more automated tools have become used in manufacturing plants it has become necessary to model, simulate, and analyze all of the machines, tooling, and input materials in order to optimize the manufacturing process. Overall, digital manufacturing can be seen sharing the same goals as computer-integrated manufacturing, flexible manufacturing, lean manufacturing, and design for manufacturability. The main difference is that digital manufacturing was evolved for use in the computerized world.
  As part of Manufacturing USA, Congress and the U.S. Department of Defense established MxD, the nation's digital manufacturing institute, to speed adoption of these digital tools.
context_section_description: Simulation can be used to model and test a system's behavior. Simulation also provides engineers with a tool for inexpensive, fast, and secure analysis to test how changes in a system can affect the performance of that system.
  These models can be classified into the following:
  Static - System of equations at a point in time
  Dynamic - System of equations that incorporate time as a variable
  Continuous - Dynamic model where time passes linearly
  Discrete - Dynamic model where time is separated into chunks
  Deterministic - Models where a unique solution is generated per a given input
  Stochastic - Models where a solution is generated utilizing probabilistic parameters
  Applications of simulation can be assigned to:
  Product design (e.g. virtual reality)
  Process design (e.g. assisting in the design of manufacturing processes)
  Enterprise resource planning
caption: Robcad is a popular software used in digital manufacturing. Models of automated machinery and production lines can be created and simulated in real time.
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS4 Macintosh", "Image DateTime": "2010:02:23 12:34:26", "Image ExifOffset": "164", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "567", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "347"}