Hearne Partners with Austral Bricks to Develop Plant Simulation Model
14 January, 2009
Hearne Scientific Software is partnering with Austral Bricks to develop a plant simulation model to understand the current operations and model future improvements. This information will enable Austral Bricks to improve efficiency and reduce operating costs whilst maintaining safety and product quality.
Known as one of Australia’s leading manufacturers of clay building products, Austral Bricks has been operating for over 100 years and has been part of Brickworks Ltd since 1945. Austral Bricks’ operations span across Australia, making it a leading clay product manufacturer. Plants have to undergo continuous modernisation in order to enhance efficiency and produce products that meet market demand. Austral Bricks invests in high technology facilities, making it one of the largest, most efficient brick making industrial estates in the world. Using simulation, therefore, is a natural extension of using technology in their quest for continuous improvement.
Hearne Scientific Software on the other hand, provides among others, software solutions for business improvement. Recently Hearne formed a partnership with ProModel Corporation, a leading developer of simulation technology, to distribute the ProModel simulation suite and render model development consultancy services in Australia and New Zealand. The ProModel simulation suite is a flagship discrete event simulation software, used for evaluating, planning or designing manufacturing, warehousing, logistics and other operational and strategic situations. This technology fits nicely with Austral Bricks’ improvement initiatives and a partnership was formed with Hearne.
Initially, a production manager from Austral Bricks was trained at Hearne to gain familiarisation and competency in the art of simulation modelling. Then a consultant from Hearne paid a visit at an Austral Bricks facility to gain a common understanding of the process. The model construction then began with a thorough discussion of the process flow at the plant. This was a crucial stage and saw many old assumptions being thrown away, leading to a renewed understanding of the operation. This stage also provided an opportunity to map out a strategy for model construction, refine the project objectives and identify critical processes that require special attention during model construction.
Both the consultant and production manager then worked together to build an initial model. This provides a quickstart to model building for unfamiliar ProModel software users, thereby reducing the time to completion. More importantly, it provides feedback and confidence for Austral Bricks to build realistic and complex models. It was then presented to Austral Bricks management and received encouraging feedback. Future plans include data collection, model refinement, validation and simulating process improvements.
Hearne Scientific Software is the exclusive distributor and training provider for ProModel software in Australia and New Zealand.