Intralogistics specialist Klug GmbH: 3D videos provide clarity before the project begins
Klug GmbH, known as Klug Integrated Systems, specialises in complex logistics solutions. As prospective clients often find it difficult to visualise their future system, the company wanted to demonstrate the planned automation technology and logistics processes in a tangible way during the sales and project planning phase – in other words, before a project even begins.
Initial situation: Complex systems are difficult to explain
Automated warehousing and logistics systems are technically sophisticated. Whilst CAD drawings and Excel spreadsheets provide data, they do little to show how the processes will actually run later on. Klug Integrated Systems was therefore looking for a way to clearly convey to prospective customers how their planned system would work, right from the quotation stage.
Objective: Making systems and processes tangible in sales
Klug wanted to use project-specific 3D videos to show potential customers the planned automation technology and the associated logistics processes. The videos were intended to:
- present complex warehouse processes in a way that is understandable even to non-specialist contacts
- serve as a supplement to or replacement for static CAD drawings and Excel spreadsheets
- be suitable as a conversation starter at trade fairs
Solution: Emulate3D creates project-specific 3D videos
Klug integrierte Systeme uses the Emulate3D software for this purpose, which was formerly known as Demo3D. Emulate3D is regarded as an industry-standard solution for intralogistics because it enables virtual 3D models of systems and processes to be created very quickly. Klug uses the software to create a bespoke 3D video for each sales project, showing the future system in motion – from the graphical quality right through to the individual customisations for each specific project.
Results: More convincing proposals and an additional sales argument
The 3D videos from Emulate3D support Klug’s sales of integrated systems on several levels:
Customers gain a better understanding of complex warehouse processes because they see the system in action rather than just reading drawings.
The videos are more convincing than static CAD plans or tables, as they allow viewers to experience the system’s operations first-hand.
At trade fairs, the animations serve as a conversation starter and spark interest in a project even before a quotation has been drawn up.
Emulate3D: the software behind the videos
Emulate3D is software for the simulation and virtual commissioning of automation systems. It creates realistic 3D models into which control logic, robotics and material flow can be integrated. The software draws on extensive standard libraries and can be customised. Its range of functions includes everything from detailed 3D models to physics-based simulation, as well as CAD interfaces to programmes such as AutoCAD or SolidWorks and connections to control platforms from Siemens, Rockwell or Beckhoff.
Beyond mere sales visualisation, Emulate3D therefore covers a broader range of applications, such as 3D layout planning, production and logistics simulation, testing PLC programmes for errors, and applications in virtual reality, augmented reality and training environments. Klug integrierte Systeme currently utilises the video and visualisation components of the software primarily for sales purposes; however, the tool also offers potential for later project phases such as layout planning or virtual commissioning.
Simulation makes a difference even before the ground-breaking ceremony
The case of Klug integrierte Systeme demonstrates that simulation software delivers benefits not just during the construction or commissioning of a plant. Even at the sales stage, a vivid 3D video helps to make complex automation and logistics solutions easy to understand and to build confidence in a proposal. Because Emulate3D is the same platform used for layout planning, simulation and virtual commissioning, companies in the production and logistics sectors can use one and the same tool throughout the entire project lifecycle, from the initial customer meeting right through to ongoing operations.
