Shaping the Future of Manufacturing with Simulation and Visualization

Computer simulation and virtual reality visualization have evolved to become critical emerging technologies in creating immersive virtual environments for numerous fields. The ability to allow people to go inside these virtual environments provides a unique, and effective tool for understanding complex manufacturing processes, and thus to innovate and to make significant improvements in a time and cost efficient way. It empowers people to work collaboratively and intuitively, prototyping and improving manufacturing processes virtually, and enabling smart manufacturing and improved decision-making for automation. As industry forges its way into the future, advanced computer simulation and visualization technologies will play an ever-increasing role in addressing the issues of productivity, energy, environment and quality, as well as workforce training to meet the challenges of tomorrow. The use of these technologies has already begun, and examples will be presented. Questions that will be addressed: How are simulation and visualization currently being used in industrial manufacturing? What are the challenges of integrating these technologies in industry? What does the future hold for manufacturing