SMA Technology Partner case study: Lanner

About Lanner

Lanner, a company of Royal HaskoningDHV, has been working with visionary companies since its inception in 1996, deploying predictive simulation capabilities and model assets that support decision making and enable smart business processes that best balance service delivery and cost. Its predictive digital twin software turns business data and processes into business value and for over 20 years Lanner’s customers have used predictive simulation technology and predictive digital twins to solve their business challenges and benefit from foresight of their decision outcomes.

Lanner helps its customers to gain insight into their businesses, make better planning decisions and become more adaptable to today’s rapidly shifting business landscape.

Lanner & the Smart Manufacturing Accelerator

Lanner is supporting the Smart Manufacturing Accelerator (SMA) by providing its flagship WITNESS and cloud based WITNESS.io technology to deliver the Predictive Digital Twin section of the Factory in a Box (FIAB). Its predictive simulation and analytics capabilities provide insight – into production plans before any parts manufacturing commences; in the case of the FIAB, the digital twin simulates its production plans using cloud based WITNESS.io services. Any problems can then be identified and resolved through experimenting with alternative scenarios before releasing the production schedule.

Utilising WITNESS.io

Accurate data collection is integral to manufacturing projects and supports key planning and decision making. With an ever-increasing level of information available, predictive simulation technology helps speed up these processes significantly; enhanced by cloud-based technology such as that provided by WITNESS.io, data is accessible in real-time, providing insight into not only what is currently happening, but also near-future predictions to support more intelligent and informed decision making.

Lanner is one of only a few organisations that offers cloud-based predictive simulation technology; this was one of the key reasons for engaging Lanner in the project as Matthew Gibbon, Senior Research Engineer at the MTC, explains: “Lanner’s cloud-based WITNESS.io web services meant that a lot of the integration could be handled automatically, removing the requirement to build custom functionality to support data analysis – this was a huge plus for us.”

This integrated model developed using WITNESS Horizon also makes reporting more efficient and accessible; simulation models would often be reserved for use by analysts, who would gather the necessary information upon request to then report back to project managers. The use of Lanner’s WITNESS platform makes this process much more accessible, giving the user complete insight into the data available, such as order completion timescales and risk of failure statistics, without having to be expert modelers.

Integrating WITNESS.io with GE’s Predix Platform

WITNESS.io is integrated with GE’s Predix IoT Platform within the FIAB, supporting access to real-time status data and the visualisation of simulated data. This was something that Brian Reilly, Business Development at Lanner, recognises is integral within Industry 4.0; “The Factory in a Box project was an opportunity to prove how integrating Lanner’s Predictive Simulation software with other leading Industry 4.0 providers can deliver more benefits to manufacturing organisations, and utilising cloud with other new and evolving technologies is fundamental.”

The application of Digital Twin technology also ensures that manufacturers utilising the FIAB will gain a level of insight and foresight to help solve specific and complex business challenges.

“The FIAB project demonstrates how future manufacturing can be responsive to demand, without being constrained to one, unmoveable location, and it creates an exciting opportunity for our industry,” says Brian.

Working with Lanner

“The team at Lanner have provided us with fantastic support throughout the project; not only in getting the most out of the WITNESS platform and its integration with other solutions thanks to its full API’s, but also by advising on the whole IT architecture within the Factory in a Box,” says Matthew Gibbon.

“Their experience and expertise in predictive simulation meant that they were able to offer up new ways of working and ultimately help us to improve the overall efficiency and delivery of the project.”

Learn more at www.lanner.com.