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Understanding Digital Factories

You must understand how Digital Factories work in aPriori so you can use them most effectively, especially when creating and configuring your own custom Digital Factories.

Digital Factory Structure

A digital factory contains regional material, economic, and machine data (RDLs), and process logic (Cost Models).

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Material, Economic and Machine Data (RDLs)

RDLs (Regional Data Libraries) are available for over 90 regions worldwide and are updated quarterly (see RDL Updates documentation for more details).

RDL data includes:

  • Materials: A materials database with four different rates (North America, Europe, Asia, and World Average).
  • Economic Data: Labor and overhead rates, loaded from the RDL that is closest to your created Digital Factory.
  • Machines: A machine database managed in a global database for your company. Machine templates are optional; you can alternatively use overlays to inherit machines from an RDL when you create a custom Digital Factory. See Introduction to Overlay Digital Factories.
  • Tool Shops, Lookup Tables, and Cost Model Variables: This information is defined in the Cost Model, but you can use the Digital Factory Manager to manage this data (not the Cost Model Workbench).

RDL Updates

aPriori supplies quarterly updates to all RDLs (Regional Data Libraries), to import into your aPriori deployment. These RDL updates directly impact the baseline Digital Factory data. You must import these RDLs so that the baseline Digital Factories can include the latest versions of the manufacturing process logic.

See the RDL Updates for more details.

Logic (Cost Models)

Cost Models (also known as Manufacturing Process Models) are available for over 400 process models that simulate manufacturing processes and calculate associated costs. Cost Models provide information for:

  • Process Routing and Feasibility
  • Operation Assignment
  • Machine Selection
  • Design Guidance
  • Output Formulas
  • User Input and Configuration Points

Use the Cost Model Workbench (CMWB) to manage this logic. See the Cost Model Workbench documentation for details.

Digital Factory Data Sources

A primary source for updates to digital factory data is Kerkhoff Consulting (now part of Interpath), a third-party group that analyzes global data for cost engineering and benchmarking.

aPriori also draws on its in-house expertise and multiple national and international resources to determine costs, including machine depreciation, building depreciation, and support service.

  • For labor costs, aPriori also reviews national labor statistics to give accurate direct wage data for each process, region, skill level, and sector.
  • For material costs, aPriori also uses several additional independent sources to validate Kerkhoff data. aPriori also maintains market adjustment factors to material rates charged by mills and large distributors.