Creating “digital twins” of our factories helps improve our production processes. We spoke with Arjun Ginoya, Plant Simulation Expert in Product Line Taste, Food Preservation, about his work simulating the factory of the future and what he enjoys most about working at Electrolux Group.
Hi Arjun! How and why did you find your way to Electrolux Group?
For my master’s degree in simulation and system design, I did an internship and master’s thesis at one of our competitors here in Germany. At a conference, I met someone from Electrolux Group and really liked his presentation. When I got home, I applied for the company’s Global Electrolux Talent Program (GET) and joined in 2020. After the one-year internship program, I was hired!
The presenter said that at Electrolux Group, anything is possible when you have a manager who pushes and inspires you. I liked that he praised his manager even though he was not there. I like the way we celebrate our people. This is the way we get good talent in our company.
What exactly do you do in your role?
I like to explain it this way: I create animated 3D factories with software. But, of course, they’re not just animations. I create a virtual replica of the process/factory, called a digital twin. I change parameters and variables one by one and test them in the virtual world.
Then, we decide whether to implement a change in the physical world. With any factory across Electrolux Group — in my case, within food preservation — if you want to change something, for example, in the assembly line, we need to understand how it will impact the entire factory. Since we cannot shut down for a week or two to test it, we model it using simulation.
For example, what is the impact of introducing a robot, or what happens if we increase the size or variety of the products manufactured at the plant? These are all things we can simulate. It’s really very interesting to look into the future of the factory this way.
What do you like most about your job?
I really like collaborating across functions and with teams across the world. I work with factory managers, automation manufacturing and industrial engineers, supply chain colleagues, salespeople and Purchasing and Product Line colleagues from all our factory locations. It gives me a 360-degree view.
What are some of the latest trends in factory simulation?
One key trend is the development of customized libraries and tools for in-house simulation. We’ve been doing precisely that, enabling us to skip several programming steps when building a factory simulation. We also make sure to share any learnings across teams to maximize the benefits.
Another exciting development is the ability to view Virtual Reality (VR) glasses — from anywhere in the world. This technology has been part of our toolkit for several years, providing new ways to analyze and optimize production processes.
Looking ahead, machine learning and AI concepts will play a bigger role, enhancing our predictive modeling capabilities and supporting even more efficient, data-driven decision making.
How does the future of simulation look?
The future for us at Electrolux Group is to develop dedicated, accurate digital twins of all our factories and help design new factories using simulation. The goal is to optimize and standardize production across our factories while considering their different characteristics to be as efficient as possible and to provide consistent quality for our consumers.
Ready to push boundaries and build what's next? Learn more about our career opportunities and join our team of innovators here.
