VIRTUAL ENTERPRISE SIMULATOR

Virtes software allows you to create a digital model of a production-logistics system or a portion of it that can replicate the operation of the original system so as to allow analysis of different types without interfering with the real system.

Virtes is the result of the ingenuity of Eng. Giovanni Davoli conceived during his doctoral studies in mechanical engineering at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia and subsequently developed in the field of professional experience in the field of production systems-logistics and analysis of production and service processes.

The software in its first version allowed to create a digital model of a production-logistics system or a portion of it able to replicate the operation of the original system in order to allow analysis of different types without interfering with the real system. Virtes is a software consisting of a series of functions developed in the Scilab environment (www.scilab.org) able to replicate the logical operation of a manufacturing company.

The main functions implemented were:
– generation of “Portfolio Orders”;
– production scheduling;
– payment into storage,
– processing of warehouse orders;

The software made it possible to evaluate the results in terms of inventory and orders processed when the management logics applied for production scheduling changed. Further investigations are also possible, such as an analysis of sensitivity to changes in the qualitative outcome of production. The software is equipped with a graphic part capable of displaying the trend over time of warehouse stocks, orders fulfilled and orders outstanding. The software is designed to be powered by historical data, simulated data or a mix of both. In particular, the first prototype of VirtES was developed and used to simulate the logical functioning of a ceramic industry by predicting the trend of the inventory level of the finished product warehouse as the order book changes and the constraints imposed by the production system change.

The first version of VirtES was developed in the Scilab 5.1.1 Open Source software distributed with GPL license and is therefore available in both Windows and GNU / LINUX environments. It was a software suitable only for expert users capable of autonomously managing the functions and the necessary integrations with external databases.

In the current digital ecosystem consisting of the implementation of the “industry4.0” paradigm, the natural development of the software is that in the Cloud so that the various devices and users can connect without geographical constraints through applications and web browsers to the databases by selecting and independently configuring the functions of VirtES in such a way as to create the model capable of responding to your specific needs. The development of VirtES is therefore linked to the availability of data relating to production and logistical processes collected and historicized by machines and systems that meet the requirements of Industry 4.0 and which have spread significantly in Italy since 2017.