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Start
Start with a question worth money
Most fall into five kinds: which fix returns the most, whether to run faster or slower, how much buffer to carry, whether you need a second machine, and whether to automate resupply.
You bring
The decision you’re weighing, and when it gets made.
What happens
We agree on one question and the part of the operation it touches. A narrow question answered properly beats a broad one answered vaguely.
What you learn
Whether ReliaSim is a good fit for your process.
You get
One question, written down, and the scope that answers it.
Time A 45-minute intake call on the free assessment.
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Data
Send the stop history you already record
An .xlsx or .csv export from your historian or downtime tracker is enough. It needs each stop, not shift or daily totals.
You bring
For each stop, the machine, the reason code, and when it started and ended, recorded to the second. Also machine rates, buffer sizes and changeover times.
What happens
You can strip product names first, because the model doesn’t need them. A mutual NDA is available, and your data is returned or destroyed when you ask.
What you learn
Where data is missing. We model those gaps with assumptions and label every one.
You get
A clear line between what was measured and what was assumed.
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Ingest and validate
Check the data before it becomes a model
Bad data gets caught here, before it turns into a model that’s confidently wrong.
You bring
Nothing new. This step runs on the export you sent.
What happens
Checks for gaps, time resolution and reason-code hygiene. Dates are read the right way round, planned stops come out, and weekends or idle shifts don’t count as run time.
What you learn
How far your stop records can be trusted, and where they need care.
You get
A clean event history, ready to fit.
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Fit
Learn how each machine actually fails
Every failure mode gets its own pattern: how often it happens, how long it lasts, and how much that varies.
You bring
Nothing new.
What happens
ReliaStats® fits a time-to-failure and a time-to-repair pattern to each failure mode. It tries eight distribution types and ranks them by goodness of fit.
What you learn
Which stops are frequent and short, and which are rare and long. MTBF and MTTR averages hide that, and it decides how often a stop outlasts a buffer.
You get
An interrupt file with one row per failure mode, ready for the model.
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Build
Build the playing field
The playing field is the part of your operation we model and play scenarios out on. It scales from a single machine to the whole supply chain.
You bring
People who know the floor, to confirm the machines, their order and where the buffers physically sit. In published projects, plant operators, engineers and the production scheduler checked the model with the modelers.
What happens
We sketch the line node by node, set rates and buffers, and attach each machine’s failure patterns. Every playing field is a choice about what to leave out. Start simple, then add detail where the question needs it.
What you learn
Perfect Production, the most the line can make if nothing ever stops.
You get
A model of your line that someone on the floor would recognize.
Time A typical build takes 15 minutes.
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Validate
Prove the model matches your history
Before anyone uses it for a decision, the model has to reproduce a year you already measured.
You bring
Your measured OEE for the same period.
What happens
We run the model over that year and compare it with what your historian recorded, overall and failure mode by failure mode.
What you learn
Whether the model can be trusted. A total can match for the wrong reasons, so each failure mode is checked on its own. In a published plant study, the model landed within 1% of measured OEE.
You get
A model-versus-history chart with one point per failure mode.
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Run scenarios
Run the what-ifs on the validated model
Try the plan on the model before you try it on the plant. Change one thing at a time and see what the whole line does, not just the machine you touched.
You bring
The options on the table. Every what-if pulls one of two levers: change the structure, or change the policy. A second machine or a bigger buffer is structure; a fix, a speed or a resupply method is policy.
What happens
Gain/Loss removes each failure mode and reruns the line. Sweeps test every buffer size and speed. Repeat runs show the range of outcomes rather than one number. Where options trade output against cost, hold service at your target, then see what each option costs to get there.
What you learn
Which fix returns the most, which often isn’t the biggest loss. Where buffer beats reliability, the best speed, and whether a second machine pays.
You get
Charts and tables for each option, with the best and worst cases.
Same loss on the Pareto, different return in the model From the five-machine bottling demo. Fixing the Filler’s jams recovers 62% more throughput than fixing the Labeler, for the same effort.
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Recommendation
Get a written recommendation, with the evidence
A readout your team can take into a capital review.
You bring
Your questions, on a 30-minute readout call.
What happens
We write up the answer to your question with the evidence behind it.
What you learn
Where the constraint actually sits, your failure modes ranked by what fixing them returns, and how output responds to buffer size.
You get
The recommendation, with the model layout, every assumption and a sensitivity check. On the free assessment it’s two pages.
Time About five business days from data to readout on the free assessment.
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Decision and after
Make the call, then reuse the playing field
The model doesn’t expire when the first question is answered. The next question reuses it.
You bring
The next question, and newer stop history when you have it.
What happens
Refresh the model from the new history and run the next decision. Anyone with the free demo can open the file and run the scenarios.
What you learn
Your team can learn the method in one-hour online sessions, a two-day course, or on-site training built on your own line.
You get
A model in a file you control. With a license, it stays usable even if the license lapses.
Two ways to start
The line assessment
One line and one question. We model it on your data and send a two-page readout in about five business days.
Your time is a 45-minute intake call and a 30-minute readout call. You receive the readout and run results, not the model file.
Every step, on your own playing field
We can handle the data cleaning, fitting and model build with you. Or license ReliaSim, at $8,000 per user per year, and run the steps yourselves.
Licensed, ReliaSim runs on your own machines with no cloud dependency, including on air-gapped networks.
The detail behind the steps
What the stop log needs
One row per stop, and any of the three timing formats works. For the assessment, everything fits on one page or one spreadsheet tab.
| Field | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Machine | The machine or place that stopped. |
| Reason | The cause or fault code for the stop. |
| Timing | Start and end time, or a start and a duration, or the uptime before the stop and the downtime in minutes. Recorded to the second. |
| Line setup | Machine rates, buffer sizes and changeover times. |
What the model reports
| Experiment | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Single run | Production against ideal, each machine’s running, blocked and starved time, every stop and its effect on the line, and a replay. |
| Multi run | The same scenario repeated, so you see the spread of throughput and efficiency, from best case to worst. |
| Gain/Loss | What removing each failure mode returns to the whole line. |
| Buffer trade-off | Output across buffer sizes, with and without each failure mode. |
| Rate | Output across machine speeds, with and without each failure mode. |
Where your data lives
With a license, models, data and results stay in files on your own machines. ReliaSim has no cloud datastore, and only license and version checks go over the internet. For the assessment, you can anonymize the data first and have it returned or destroyed when you ask.
Start with one question about one line
Apply for a free line assessment. We reply within two business days.
Apply for an assessment