Guides

Engineering guides for machine builders

Practical guides from early machine concepts and engineering to virtual commissioning, FAT and handover. Use them as independent entry points depending on where your project is today.

Start with the question in front of you

These are different entry points into the same machine reality. There is no required starting point.

Concept & feasibility

Challenge the concept, capacity and critical assumptions before they become expensive to change.

PLC & motion

PLC, motion, machine software and integration for projects that need to be built and work in practice.

Virtual commissioning

Test machine software and behaviour digitally before the physical machine is ready.

Factory acceptance test

Plan tests, evidence and acceptance so FAT becomes confirmation rather than discovery.

Concept & feasibility

Challenge the concept, capacity and critical assumptions before they become expensive to change.

Concept & feasibility10 min read

Are you buying an animation, or a reusable simulation model?

An animation shows the process it was produced for. A simulation model contains the machine's functions and behaviour, so the same digital core can feed development, test, sales, training and visual content. The difference matters when a machine builder must choose between one finished delivery and a model that can keep creating value after the first presentation is handed over.

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Concept & feasibility10 min read

Can your machine concept achieve the required throughput?

A throughput target is often attached to a machine concept before the assumptions behind it have been tested. Before detailed engineering, separate the requirement from calculated capability and check how much margin remains if timings move. A focused model can challenge the concept before design freeze. It does not prove the built machine.

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PLC & motion

PLC, motion, machine software and integration for projects that need to be built and work in practice.

PLC & motion13 min read

How do you couple PLC platforms to the digital twin and virtual commissioning?

The PLC platform you already run shapes how production-intent machine code couples to a Unity-based digital twin. This guide compares B&R, Beckhoff, Siemens and Rockwell Automation through neexo Gateway: software runtimes, signal mapping, and when hardware-in-the-loop is worth the setup.

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PLC & motion9 min read

How do you connect a PLC to a digital twin?

A usable industrial digital twin is more than a 3D model with a few PLC tags. On a real machine the same Unity simulation often has to work with several PLCs, robot controllers or simulators from different vendors. neexo Gateway keeps those local connections behind one stable, protocol-neutral layer, so Unity does not have to be rebuilt around each controller.

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PLC & motion10 min read

How do you test motion control in custom machines before FAT?

You can test motion sequences, handshakes, axis states, and restart after a fault before the machine is assembled. The twin has to react to the same commands and give the same feedback the PLC expects. Drive tuning, mechanical tolerances, and safety functions still have to be checked on the real machine.

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PLC & motion12 min read

PackML in practice: keeping modular machine software in sync

Customers ask for PackML because they want a common start, stop and recovery. That does not mean rewriting the whole program. The hard part is making modules wait on the same states. Parent and child have to wait. Optional modules belong in the architecture, not as extra ISA states.

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Virtual commissioning

Test machine software and behaviour digitally before the physical machine is ready.

Virtual commissioning9 min read

What is virtual commissioning?

Virtual commissioning connects PLC logic to a simulated machine model so you can test sequences, safety interlocks, and operator flows before hardware is wired on the shop floor. Machine builders use it to find integration faults earlier and shorten FAT rework. It does not replace physical FAT.

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Virtual commissioning12 min read

Why use Unity for digital twins on industrial machines?

Unity is a real-time 3D runtime OEMs use to connect CAD geometry, kinematics, and operator context to live or soft-PLC code. Logic-only simulation in the PLC toolchain is often the right first step. Unity belongs when spatial behaviour, operator flow, and motion have to be tested together.

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Factory acceptance test

Plan tests, evidence and acceptance so FAT becomes confirmation rather than discovery.

Factory acceptance test9 min read

Virtual FAT vs. physical FAT: what is the difference?

Virtual FAT runs Factory Acceptance Test scenarios against a digital twin linked to real PLC code, letting buyers and builders validate logic, HMI flows, and safety sequences without full hardware in the room. It prepares teams for physical FAT but does not replace signed acceptance on the actual machine.

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Factory acceptance test10 min read

How to build a digital commissioning test plan

A digital commissioning test plan is the shared test list: each scenario has a name and number (for example VC-01), observable pass criteria, and a record of open issues. You run it against a digital twin linked to real PLC code, then reuse the same points for virtual FAT, physical FAT, and operator training.

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Continue from where your project is

There is no required sequence. Explore engineering, virtual commissioning and real project cases, or talk to us about the problem in front of you.