Whitepapers

CASE STUDY www.rocky-dem.com | © Rocky DEM, Inc. - All rights reserved. CHALLENGE Standard DEM particle shapes did not accurately capture the behavior of unique materials, like PepsiCo's snack chips, on the production line. Alternative solutions, such as glued spheres, presented an unfeasible node count for even test- batch-sized simulation. SOLUTION By developing an accurate polyhedral contact detection model for curved shape concave particles that can be solved using Graphics Processing Solver (GPUs). Rocky DEM enabled PepsiCo to create unique shapes that not only accurately represented the real-life material but also made it feasible to use it in large scale process simulations. BENEFITS Rocky DEM simulations enabled PepsiCo to improve the accuracy of their factory equipment set-up for both their new and modifi ed product lines. The simulations enabled them to reduce the number of adjustments required and helped them identify any potential custom modifi cations ahead of time. Between avoiding costly modifi cations, and reducing product waste and time during production testing periods, Rocky DEM has helped PepsiCo realize up to a 50% cost reduction thus far. VIRTUAL TESTS One of the major ways Rocky DEM helps PepsiCo improve productivity and reduce costs is by allowing the company to perform virtual experiments on their product lines. "When new processes are developed, much of the product produced cannot be sold and must be scrapped," Koh explains. "By having the capability to do a large number of the developmental experiments virtually, the amount of waste produced can be minimized." The company uses Rocky DEM to evaluate all kinds of equipment issues related to speed, vibration, and material distribution, and to correct problems like material clogging and breakage. In this way, Rocky simulations helped PepsiCo optimize the tumbling process used to apply seasonings to their snack chips, as well as improve upon their packaging process. "One of the advantages of using Rocky DEM is the ability to model more realistic curved/concave shapes, an important feature of many of our products," says Koh. "Using simulation models with simplifi ed (i.e. fl at) shapes can lead to omission of important physical interactions between uniquely-shaped materials, such as snack chips, and the processing equipment." To more accurately represent concave materials like snack chips, PepsiCo creates a unique geometry in a 3D CAD package and then imports that custom shape into the Rocky DEM software. RETURN ON INVESTMENT To be able to perform virtual experiments is very important to any company handling bulk materials, because by testing a large of number of possibilities, they can fi nd the best solution to the problem, identify improvements, increase productivity, and reduce costs. PepsiCo found all these benefi ts by using Rocky DEM. "To run physical trials in our pilot or production facilities can be quite expensive, due to labor and material costs, especially when a large number of simulations are needed to complete a Design of Experiment (DOE)," Koh explains. "Having the ability to do many of these experiments virtually can save both money and time. Depending upon the situation, we have realized up to a 50% cost reduction when leveraging Rocky DEM simulations." Rocky DEM simulations of snack chips at di erent stages of production, including in a seasoning drum (left) and being fi lled into a bag (right). PepsiCo began in 1965 with the merger of Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay. Today, it's a global food and beverage leader, with a portfolio that includes 22 brands.

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