Page 106 - Glass-Technology International no. 5-2018

SHOP FLOOR LOGISTICS

VDMA

he magic words are
shop floor logistics.
T People are, and will
always be, part of the lo-
gistics chain. With the help
of automated work steps,
employees are able to fo-
cus on their tasks more RUNNING ALMOST
closely and therefore work
in a more targeted man-
ner. Mobile and driverless AUTOMATICALLY
machines are deployed to
complete distracting ancil-
lary activities or transport
routes, and not just at the
cold end of glass produc-
tion.
The first step is an analy-
sis, a data-based process
which requires as much
data to be collected as pos-
sible. The company Hegla-
Hanic GmbH & Co. KG
has defined the necessary
steps for its production
solutions. The challenge in
production is coordinating
the machining and cycle
times of the equipment.
What happens at individual
steps, how good are the in-
terfaces and how smooth
are the transitions? How
well is the supply of work habits have crept in, infor- state, an analysis process process to be honed in
materials coordinated? mation is scattered and, of which is more successful on. Driverless transport
Machine parks are gener- course, there are always the more data the company systems are flexible in this
ally designed to be very unplanned downtimes. has collected. Scenarios context, particularly when
heterogeneous, certain can be simulated to deter- it comes adapting to fu-
processes have “grown”, CONTRARY TO mine the steps where pro- ture requirements, mean-
EXPECTATIONS duction needs adapting. ing production lines will no
Taking a closer look at To do so, affected teams longer require redesigning.
VDMA processes often shows that must describe the require- Source: Hegla-Hanic
ments and the ideal process
they are far more com-
they a
plex than initially and then compare both GEOPOSITIONING
thought, despite with the actual state. Sim- IN PRODUCTION
VDMA represents more than 3,200 mostly
the fact that they ulating scenarios with the FACILITIES
medium-sized companies in the mechanical
should be simple respective production soft- The use of automated
engineering industry. With over 1.3 million
and efficient. The ware enables different so- guided vehicles is conceiv-
employees and sales of around EUR 232
billion (2018), the sector is the largest
goal is to deter- lutions to be tested, which able in any industry sector,
industrial employer in Germany and one of
mine the ideal in turn allows the optimal regardless of the prod-
the leading German industrial sectors.
104 Glass-Technology International 5/2019