Location: 67227 Frankenthal, Germany · Industry: Pumps, valves, mechanical engineering, plant engineering, water technology, industrial technology · Products: Pumps, valves, shut-off and control technology, service and automation solutions for water, energy and industry · ERP: SAP ERP · Website: http://www.ksb.com · S4P modules: FELIOS|FLS powered by 4APS
Initial situation
KSB SE & Co. KGaA is building a new factory and logistics centre for ETAP pumps to make manufacturing faster and more productive. Across many of its plants, KSB already uses FELIOS|APS for day-accurate multi-resource planning of complex order networks. The new ETA factory is shaped by one-piece flow, highly variant-rich processes and demanding quality requirements in pump manufacturing. Based on SAP ERP as the central data platform, planning and capacity control were to be more tightly integrated and transparency in manufacturing increased further.
Challenge
Given the scale and strategic importance of the new ETA factory within the KSB group, an intensive selection process for the fine planning system lasted over a year, including a comprehensive proof of concept. The factory design incorporates one-piece flow, FIFO buffers, Industry 4.0 principles and automation with automated guided vehicles (AGVs) — all of which must be coordinated and validated in real time before the facility goes live. Planning mistakes detected only during operation carry significantly higher correction costs than those identified during the design phase, making pre-commissioning simulation a critical success factor.
Solution
Following the intensive proof of concept, FELIOS|FLS powered by 4APS was selected as the fine planning system. Before the actual commissioning of the new factory, KSB decided to build a digital twin of the ETA factory with S4P during the planning and construction phase. SIMPLAN realised a discrete-event emulation of the ETA factory using Plant Simulation, coupled to FELIOS|FLS via REST web services. Master data are generated by KSB in MS Excel and read directly into both FELIOS|FLS and Plant Simulation. The emulation model retrieves movement data dynamically from FLS via REST — with FLS operating as a service. This enables arbitrary planning scenarios to be simulated over extended time horizons, with findings flowing directly into the factory design.
Results and benefits
Beyond the established benefits of FELIOS|FLS powered by 4APS for improving logistical key figures such as on-time delivery, lead times, WIP inventories and costs, the digital twin approach directly addresses the ‘Rule of 10’ — the quality management principle that correction costs increase tenfold with each subsequent lifecycle phase. By simulating the new factory digitally before commissioning, planning errors are identified and resolved early, the factory build is underpinned by solid planning and simulation evidence, and the ramp-up risk is substantially reduced. KSB secures its investment in the EUR 70 million facility with a validated, data-driven planning foundation.