Virtual commissioning for packaging lines and pharma equipment means running the real PLC program against a simulated model of the line or skid before anything is installed, so sequences, interlocks, changeovers and fault recovery are proven at a desk. On a packaging line the payoff is in jams, format changes and machine-to-machine handshakes. On a pharma skid it is in sequence logic and in test evidence that feeds FAT and commissioning and qualification. In both cases, site time goes to installation and checkout instead of software debugging.
Why commissioning is where schedules die
Visual Components wrote in 2016 that commissioning can take 15 to 20% of total delivery time on an automation project, and that nearly two thirds of that time goes on fixing software errors, because the software is only integration-tested once all the hardware has arrived (Visual Components). ISA's InTech magazine made the same case: unplanned behavior at commissioning quickly turns into delays and cost, and virtual commissioning reduces that risk (ISA InTech, 2020).
Packaging and pharma lines feel this more than most. Packaging lines are chains of machines from different OEMs that must agree on starved, blocked and running states. Pharma equipment has long, conditional sequences and a validation team that wants test evidence for each of them.
What to test on a packaging line
Many packaging OEMs and end users organize machine states around PackML, the state model developed by OMAC and adopted by ISA as TR88.00.02 to give machines a common look and feel across the plant floor (OMAC PackML). That makes it a natural spine for a virtual commissioning test plan:
- State transitions. Every PackML state and command, including Held, Suspended and Aborted, on every machine.
- Starved and blocked handshakes. Filler stops when the labeler is blocked, restarts in the right order when it clears.
- Accumulation and speed matching. Conveyor speeds and buffer lengths at the rated rate and at the rate the plant will actually run.
- Format changeover. Recipe download, guide rail positions, and what happens if the operator starts too early.
- Jam and reject recovery. A tipped bottle, a missing label, a reject bin full.
What to test on a pharma skid
For a CIP skid, a buffer prep system or a vial filling line, the model can be simpler in 3D and richer in process behavior: tank levels, valve travel times, temperature ramps. ASTM E2500 sets out a science- and risk-based approach to specification, design and verification of pharmaceutical manufacturing systems, including the automation that can affect product quality (ASTM E2500). Tests run in virtual commissioning can be planned as verification activities under that approach, provided they are documented, reviewed and traceable.
| Test area | Packaging line | Pharma skid |
|---|---|---|
| Main focus | States, handshakes, throughput | Sequences, interlocks, alarms |
| Model detail | 3D conveyors and product flow | Process behavior: levels, temperatures, valves |
| Key fault cases | Jams, starved and blocked | Valve fails to open, temperature not reached |
| Evidence goes to | FAT protocol | FAT and C&Q verification |
Virtual Commissioning with NX MCD and PLCSim Advanced
Siemens Knowledge Hub
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Watch on YouTubeHow a project runs
- Agree the scope: which machines, which states, which faults. Write test cases from the URS and FDS before modeling starts.
- Build the model from the OEM's CAD at 1:1 scale, with only as much physics as the tests need.
- Run the real PLC program in an emulator (Studio 5000 and Logix Echo, or TIA Portal and PLCSIM Advanced) connected to the model.
- Execute the test cases, inject the faults and record results against each case.
- Fix, retest and freeze the software version that goes to FAT.
- Keep the model: it becomes the basis for operator training and later changes.
iUNI lists virtual commissioning rehearsal as a core use of its digital twins, and because Wartens are automation engineers first, the model is driven by the same control program the line will run (iUNI). Our comparison of virtual commissioning software covers the tool choices in more depth.
What a typical first run finds
The defects found in the first week of virtual commissioning are rarely exotic. A case packer that restarts before the upstream conveyor has cleared. A labeler that drops to Held on a missing label but never returns to Execute without an operator reset nobody documented. A CIP sequence that opens the return valve before the supply pump has proven flow. A recipe download that succeeds on the PLC but leaves the HMI showing the previous format.
Each of these takes minutes to fix at a desk and hours on a live line with product, operators and an OEM technician waiting. The pattern we see is consistent: most findings sit at the boundaries, between two machines, between PLC and HMI, or between the sequence and the fault handling. That is where to spend test effort first.
Where virtual commissioning stops
Next step
If you are buying a packaging line or a pharma skid in the next year, ask the OEM how the software will be tested before it ships. Our virtual commissioning and digital twin service builds the model and runs the tests, our virtual commissioning guide explains the basics, and our GAMP 5 PLC validation guide covers the pharma paperwork. Contact us with the line layout and the PLC platform.
