System emulation brings test and verification of controls software to a new and higher standard with respect to realism, agility, speed and potential cost savings. The fundamental idea of the emulation sessions is to test and verify the capability of the control software by means of a 3D capacity realistic computer model of the real facility.

Control software such as Warehouse Management Systems (WMS), Material Flow Controllers (MFC) and other related High Level Control applications are connected to a virtual model of the system. The model represents the system i.e. the actual equipment, the flow of items, the PLC logic, etc...

The communication between the control software and the emulation model is based on the real protocols specified, meaning that the controls software can not see, if it is controlling the real system or the emulation computer model on an office desk long before the real system is installed.