May 5, 2026. Together with Visual Components, KUKA Group is driving forward the development of simulation-controlled solutions – from planning to virtual commissioning and operation. The aim is to optimize processes at an early stage, reduce risks and significantly accelerate the implementation of complex automation projects.
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Simulation is becoming a mainstay of industrial automation. According to Global Market Insights, the global market for digital twins reached a volume of 13.6 billion US dollars in 2024 and is expected to grow to 18.9 billion US dollars by 2025. Forecasts predict a market volume of over 400 billion US dollars by the mid-2030s, primarily due to use cases in the areas of manufacturing, automation and virtual commissioning. Simulation, which has long been established as a proven method in engineering, is now increasingly becoming a strategic lever across the entire automation lifecycle.
Together with Visual Components, part of KUKA Group since 2017, KUKA Group is driving the use of industrial simulation in the areas of engineering, planning, commissioning and lifecycle management – creating measurable added value for customers, partners and the manufacturing industry as a whole. “Simulation is no longer an optional engineering tool – it is a strategic competence,” says Christoph Schell, CEO of KUKA Group. “With Visual Components, we enable our customers and partners to reduce risk, shorten time-to-market and unlock new efficiency potential across the entire automation lifecycle.”
KUKA Group’s ecosystem brings together international customers, system integrators and technology experts to demonstrate how simulation-driven approaches are changing the way automation solutions are designed, validated and implemented. A simulation event at KUKA’s headquarters in Germany underscored this strategic focus, which is supported by Visual Components’ partners such as TWINZO, RIIICO, DUALIS, REALTIME ROBOTICS, Flexcon and Team CMC in the field of industrial simulation. Visual Components, which launched Visual Components 5.0, a comprehensive software update, in March, plays a key role: its simulation platform enables high-resolution digital twins, collaborative planning and informed decision-making at a very early stage – long before physical systems are built.
Industrial simulation is rapidly evolving from a niche planning aid product to a key competitive advantage. By combining KUKA’s automation expertise with Visual Components’ advanced manufacturing simulation software, customers can virtually design, scale and optimize production systems with high accuracy and reliability. “This approach enables manufacturers to validate layouts and robot concepts at an early stage, identify bottlenecks and optimize cycle times before commissioning, improve collaboration between engineering, production and management, and reduce costly changes during installation and ramp-up,” says Mikko Urho, CEO of Visual Components. For KUKA Group, this represents a strategic step towards predictive, data-driven automation solutions – in line with the growing demand for flexibility, reliability and faster innovation cycles.” “As a long-standing strategic partner of KUKA, the integration of Visual Components is a natural and complementary step. One advantage lies in the improved visualization of large investments, which enables a much faster and clearer understanding of the full potential of both mechanical automation and digitalization,” says Alexandra Krupp, Director Process Development at Freudenberg Sealing Technologies, a valuable partner of the KUKA ecosystem.
The “Simulation Event” also underlines KUKA Group’s commitment to its global partner ecosystem. System integrators, engineering partners and technology providers play a crucial role in making simulation-driven automation a reality for customers worldwide. “Working with KUKA and Visual Components in the development of our production cells has significantly improved both our product and process development. Through simulation and data-driven analysis of our production data, Visual Components enables us to shorten development cycles, increase process efficiency and bring products to market faster,” says Dr. Jürgen Fründ, Project Manager Innovation & Digital Transformation at BENTELER Automotive Components. Visual Components thus serves as a common platform that enables standardized workflows, faster project execution and closer collaboration across company boundaries.
“The use of Visual Components in conjunction with KUKA technology enables us to simulate complete production systems with an unprecedented level of realism,” says Matthias Wilhelm, Sales Manager for Germany, Austria and Switzerland at Visual Components. “This fundamentally changes the way we work with customers and implement projects.” For end customers, the strategic focus on simulation means greater transparency and confidence in investments in automation. “For us, Visual Components is an important building block within the digital engineering toolchain that we are developing. We see a high strategic added value in the use of Visual Components and look forward to further expanding the functionality of our product library in the eCatalog,” says Matthias Vietz, Software Engineer and Product Owner at Bosch Rexroth.
This strategic advance in the field of industrial simulation is a core element of KUKA Group’s “Automation 2.0” strategy. “Automation 2.0” stands for the next evolutionary stage of industrial automation: the transition from individual machines to fully networked, intelligent and software-controlled production systems. Simulation plays a critical role in this transformation by enabling virtualization, data-driven decision making and continuous optimization across the entire lifecycle of automation solutions.
By combining practical automation expertise with powerful simulation technologies such as Visual Components, KUKA Group enables its customers and partners to design, test and scale flexible production systems faster and with greater confidence. Digital twins, virtual commissioning and collaborative simulation environments are key building blocks of Automation 2.0 – helping manufacturers respond to complexity, customization and rapid change with agility and resilience.
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Photo: KUKA
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