Simulación · Minimal Factory · Ports and waterways
Henrichenburg boat lift · lifting ships
Boat lift and shaft lock as a model: on the Dortmund-Ems Canal in Waltrop, ships overcome 14 m in height between lower and upper water.
Trailer
Real are location, terrain and structures (official NRW elevation data, OpenStreetMap). Ships per day have not been handed down, the new structures are interpreted; quantities, processes and times are model values. With your data, the model shows your site and your processes.
On the Dortmund-Ems Canal in Waltrop, ships overcome 14 m in height: the old boat lift and the shaft lock stand as a block model on the real terrain. Boat lift and lock raise the ships between lower water and upper water; in the upper water the raised ships wait to continue to Dortmund. The caisson with the ship rises and falls.
In the model a new boat lift and a new lock are added. Five controls steer the plant: investment (one to four structures), workforce, supply, quality and market. The more structures, the more ships per day, if people and ships are there.
Real are location, terrain and structures from official NRW elevation data and OpenStreetMap. Ships per day have not been handed down; the position of the new structures, quantities, processes and times are an interpretation of our own and model values, and one working day lasts ten seconds. The page is for museums and exhibitions, schools and universities, industrial heritage and local history.
From raw material to product
- 01
supply – ships from the lower reach
- 02
lifts and locks – the trough with the ship rises and falls
- 03
upper reach – takes in what is not sold
- 04
dispatch – ships to Dortmund
01
A site at work
Henrichenburg boat lift: On the Dortmund-Ems Canal in Waltrop ships climb 14 m: the old lift and the shaft lock, joined by a new lift and a new lock.
02
Lift 1 (real)
Lift 1 (real) – Lift and lock raise the ships between the canal reaches. In the game the shaft lock, a new lift and a new lock join the old lift.
What is shown – why – for whom
| Qué se muestra | Por qué | Para quién |
|---|---|---|
| Old boat lift with caisson | Por quéShows how a ship is raised and lowered 14 m in a caisson. | Para quiénmuseum, teaching |
| Shaft lock | Por quéShows the second way to raise a ship between canal pounds. | Para quiénteaching, history of technology |
| New boat lift and new lock as an expansion | Por quéShows how more structures can create more ships per day. | Para quiéneconomics teaching, exhibition |
| Lower water with arriving ships | Por quéShows where the ships to be raised come from. | Para quiénteaching, industrial heritage |
| Upper water with ships continuing to Dortmund | Por quéShows where the raised ships wait. | Para quiénteaching, local history |
| Exhibition hall at the upper water | Por quéShows where the visitors' route to the old boat lift begins. | Para quiénmuseum, exhibition |
| Five controls with number of ships and daily result | Por quéShows connections in operations, not operating figures. | Para quiéneconomics teaching |
03
Lift 4
Lift 4 – the expansion runs along as long as people, materials and market suffice.
04
Five levers, one works
Full investment – four lifts and locks: capacity for the boom, but only with enough people and materials.
Films from the model
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Above Henrichenburg boat lift
A flight across the whole site: low approach, Lift 1, then across the works to the long shot – everything moving, with the sound of the works.
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From raw material to product
The works’ chain in one flight – supply (ships from the lower reach), lifts and locks, upper reach, dispatch: station by station.
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A working day in time-lapse
In time-lapse working days pass in seconds: shifts at the gate, traffic on the supply and dispatch routes, the stockpile (upper reach) changing along.
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A works grows
Investment step by step: new lifts and locks appear, the workforce grows with them, then more supply and a boom in the market.
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Bottleneck – the works respond
First materials run short and the plant only runs in part, then the market takes too little and the stockpile fills up – in the boom the works recover.
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Using the software
With the full interface: open the works, set investment and market, look at stockpile and plant – every lever acts at once.
Facilities and areas in the model
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Lifts and locks
Lift and lock raise the ships between the canal reaches. In the game the shaft lock, a new lift and a new lock join the old lift. In the game: 2 real, 2 as expansion (interpreted).
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Upper reach
Whatever is made but not sold ends up here; when it is full the surplus goes at a discount, when the market wants more it is drawn down.
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Supply
Ships from the lower reach. A bigger contract costs more, the store buffers short gaps.
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Dispatch
Ships to Dortmund. The market only takes what it needs.
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Exhibition hall
On the upper reach, where visitors set off towards the old lift.
05
When things get tight
Upper reach filling up – more is made than sold; when there is no room left the surplus goes at a 40 % discount.
06
Medium long shot
Medium long shot – Lift 1: the trough with the ship rises and falls.
Processes in the model
From raw material to product
- 01supply – ships from the lower reach
- 02lifts and locks – the trough with the ship rises and falls
- 03upper reach – takes in what is not sold
- 04dispatch – ships to Dortmund
Expansion
- 01raise investment by one step
- 02another lift is built on its plot
- 03set the workforce to match, otherwise it only runs in part
- 04the market decides whether it pays – success in one number at the top
Bottleneck and recovery
- 01supply short – the store empties
- 02materials missing – the plants only run in part
- 03market in a slump – the stockpile grows until the fire sale
- 04boom – the stockpile empties, the result rises
What the model can be used for
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Museum and exhibition
The difference in height explains itself on the plant: the caisson with the ship rises and falls between lower and upper water. At the upper water, the visitors' route to the old boat lift begins at the exhibition hall.
Para quiénmuseums, visitor centres, exhibitions
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School and university
What is the difference between a lock and a boat lift? Terms like caisson, float, shaft lock, canal pound and fall height sit where they belong.
Para quiénschools, universities, vocational training
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Industrial heritage and local history
How did ships on the Dortmund-Ems Canal get to Dortmund? The old boat lift, shaft lock and canal lie on the real terrain in Waltrop.
Para quiénindustrial heritage, city marketing, local history societies
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Understanding operations
Investment, workforce, supply, quality and market act at once on the number of ships per day and the result. It becomes visible why a further structure without people and ships costs money.
Para quiéneconomics teaching, further training
07
Lift 1 at work
Lift 1 at work – the trough with the ship rises and falls; the machines run with the works’ utilisation.
08
The whole software
Running the works – five levers: investment, workforce, supply, quality and market; the chain shows at once what follows.
What you can change
Controls
- Investment: Number of lifts and locks (1 to 4): more money builds more, less shuts them down; without more people they only run in part.
- Workforce: Enough people for all lifts and locks – output rises, and so does success. Too many people cost wages without more output.
- Supply: More material arrives – the plant no longer has to wait. Levels short, normal and double; supply security costs money.
- Quality: More quality means less scrap and fewer breakdowns but costs testing and maintenance (levels low, normal, high).
- Market: Slump, normal or boom. In a slump more is made than sold: the stockpile grows and success drops. In a boom the market takes more: the stockpile empties and success rises.
Disruptions
- Too few people: Workers are missing, part of the plant stands still.
- Material missing: Supply is not enough; once the store is empty the plants only run in part (message: “Parts store empty – supply is short”).
- Too much built: More is made than the market takes: the stockpile grows; when it is full the surplus goes at a 40 % discount (message: “Stockpile full – fire sale at a discount”).
- Market wants more: Demand is greater than the works can make; once the stockpile is empty orders are lost (message: “Stockpile empty – orders are lost”).
What the model brings
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01
The real terrain as a stage
Boat lift, lock and canal stand on terrain from official elevation data. You show the site as it lies, not as a diagram.
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02
14 metres made visible
You see the caisson with the ship rise and fall. The difference in height between lower and upper water becomes tangible before you steer the plant yourself.
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03
Bottlenecks without damage
Ships or people are missing, the upper water fills up. You see where it gets tight first, and set it back.
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04
For big screens and the browser
Runs in the browser and on large projections. A working day in fast motion lasts ten seconds.
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Henrichenburg boat lift: On the Dortmund-Ems Canal in Waltrop ships climb 14 m: the old lift and the shaft lock, joined by a new lift and a new lock. -
Henrichenburg boat lift from the other side – the same site in the afternoon sun from the south-west, with long shadows of halls and structures. -
Medium long shot – Lift 1: the trough with the ship rises and falls. -
Far out near Waltrop – terrain, houses and trees come from official elevation data; at the edge the world fades softly into the dark. -
From above – Henrichenburg boat lift as a model of blocks: every cell a block, buildings and terrain from elevation data and OpenStreetMap. -
Henrichenburg boat lift from above at an angle – supply, lifts and locks, upper reach and dispatch at a glance. -
All around Waltrop: streets, tracks and water from OpenStreetMap, houses and trees from the elevation data – only the plant in the middle is built specially. -
At eye level – Lift 1, as close as from the fence. -
Lift 1 (real) – Lift and lock raise the ships between the canal reaches. In the game the shaft lock, a new lift and a new lock join the old lift. -
Lift 2 (real) – a real structure of the site, running in the game: the trough with the ship rises and falls. -
Lift 3 (expansion, interpreted) – only appears with more investment and runs only with enough people and materials. -
Lift 4 (expansion, interpreted) – only appears with more investment and runs only with enough people and materials. -
Upper reach – whatever is made but not sold ends up here; when there is no room left, the surplus goes at a discount. -
Supply – ships from the lower reach: a bigger contract costs more, the store buffers short gaps. -
Exhibition hall – on the upper reach, where visitors set off towards the old lift. -
Lift 1 close up – the trough with the ship rises and falls. -
Upper reach close up – the lifted ships wait here to continue. -
Supply in full swing – ships from the lower reach; the bigger the contract, the more is on the move. -
Lift 1 at work – the trough with the ship rises and falls; the machines run with the works’ utilisation. -
Lift 4 – the expansion runs along as long as people, materials and market suffice. -
Upper reach in day-to-day operation – the lifted ships wait here to continue. -
Dispatch – ships to Dortmund; in a boom more is on the move, in a slump less. -
At the gate – the shifts arrive here, paths lead to the plants, the workshop and the break area. -
Full steam – all four lifts and locks running, the market booming: supply and dispatch routes are at their busiest. -
Small investment – only Lift 1 runs, the other plots lie ready as marked foundations. -
Full investment – four lifts and locks: capacity for the boom, but only with enough people and materials. -
Every facility labelled – lift 1 to 4, upper reach, supplier and market; at the top the working day with the daily output, on the right success in one number. -
Lift 1 labelled – name and number right in the picture. -
Success in one number – 100 means it cannot get better in this market; below it the result per day, at the top the output per working day. -
Where a lever acts, a ring lights up – here after a change in the market: upper reach. -
Materials missing – supply is short, the store is empty: the lifts and locks only run in part, the supply route is quiet. -
Upper reach filling up – more is made than sold; when there is no room left the surplus goes at a 40 % discount. -
Boom – the market takes more than is being made: the stockpile empties, the dispatch route is busy. -
The whole software – at the top the working day with clock and output, on the right success in one number, below the tiles for works and facilities. -
Running the works – five levers: investment, workforce, supply, quality and market; the chain shows at once what follows. -
One lever, visible at once – market set to slump: the status line explains the bottleneck, the stockpile grows, the daily result drops. -
Facility card – lift: in operation, workforce and utilisation, plus one sentence on what happens there. -
Stockpile card – upper reach: stock, space used and growth per day. -
Supplier card – delivery per day, store and material costs per day. -
Market card – demand, sold and turnover per day. -
Bottleneck in orange – supply is not enough: the line at the top and the works status say in one sentence what is missing. -
The menu – overview and plant, cutaway, restart, demo, sound and other sites, below the controls for mouse, touch and keyboard. -
Sixteen real sites – blast furnaces, collieries, car plants, harbours and a shipyard, each where it really stands.
Your site as a model
Would you like to show your plant, your museum or your industrial site like this? Write to us or call. We will send you the password for starting it on request.
cube4tec.de/spiele/minimal-factory/
Preguntar sobre esto
Minimal Factory: Schiffshebewerk Henrichenburg · Schiffe heben
Basis and limits
Real are the location, terrain and buildings in Waltrop (official NRW elevation data and OpenStreetMap). The plant in the middle is our own simplified interpretation: quantities, processes, times and prices are model assumptions; the economy runs in time-lapse (10 seconds are one working day). Not a simulation of real operations and no cooperation with the site.
Public sources the model is based on:
- Wikipedia (German), article on the site: Schiffshebewerk Henrichenburg und Nachbarbauwerke
- Geobasis NRW: digital surface and terrain models DOM1/DGM1 (Data licence Germany – Zero – 2.0)
- OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0): streets, tracks, water, land use
More places in the model
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Ruhrort harbour · ship and rail transfer
An inland harbour as a model: quays with gantry cranes, grabs above the ships, storage yard and coal trains, at the mouth of the Ruhr into the Rhine.
-
Henrichshütte Hattingen · blast furnace and ironworks
A blast furnace as a model you can walk through: wind, hot-blast stoves, burden and tapping, plus steelworks, rolling mill and works railway, on the real terrain of the Ruhr valley.
-
Bochum car plant · from sheet metal to the car train
A car plant as a model you can walk through: press shop, body shop, paint shop, assembly and test field, plus a plant tour in 16 stops up to the “marriage” and the car train.
-
Düsseldorf future factory · robot cells and driverless transport
A modern factory as a model: robot cells, driverless transport vehicles, drones and a robot dog, plus people on the assembly line and a plant tour in ten stops.
-
Hansa coking plant · coal becomes coke
A coking plant as a model you can walk through: charging car, pusher machine, quenching car and quenching tower, plus coal tower, compressor house and coke stockpile, on the real terrain in Dortmund-Huckarde.
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Zollern colliery · hoisting coal
A showpiece colliery as a model: winding towers, sheaves, winding engine and cages in the shaft, plus machine hall and pay hall on the real terrain in Dortmund-Bövinghausen.
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Zollverein · coal washery
A coal washery as a model: belts, screens and water, the loading bunker above the track, plus Shaft XII and the coking plant on the real terrain in Essen.
-
Meiderich ironworks · blast furnaces in Duisburg-Nord
Three blast furnaces of an ironworks as a model: blast furnace gas flare above, tapping into torpedo cars below, plus burden bunker and blower house in Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord.
Real are location, terrain and structures (official NRW elevation data, OpenStreetMap). Ships per day have not been handed down, the new structures are interpreted; quantities, processes and times are model values. With your data, the model shows your site and your processes.