FEATURE Robotics & Motion Control
Fast and safe transport
on the factory fl oor Improved efficiency and seamless material supply: in Austria, Philips is automating material transport by using OMRON AMRs
J
aqueline, Chiara and Sepp have been helping Philips in Klagenfurt, Austria, with the internal transport of materials for the past two years. They are very special colleagues
because they are autonomous mobile robots (AMRs). To increase the acceptance of these new robot colleagues, the employees at the plant gave them names. The LD mobile robots from OMRON are used in combination with solutions from an OMRON partner, EM Technologies. The migration from manual transport
processes to mobile robots is part of a broad modernisation project at Philips. In its move towards Factory 4.0, the group relies step by step on LEAN mechanisation, digitisation tools in production and the offi ce, predictive maintenance and quality, and automated workfl ows. The primary goal of all of these individual projects is Smart Manufacturing.
The right robots The Future Factory programme at Philips started in 2017.
“Back then, we wanted to show our colours very quickly and initiate the fi rst smart manufacturing projects. The AMRs fi t well here because they can be quickly implemented,” said Siegfried Seufzer, Operations Manager, Production Personal Care at Philips Klagenfurt. When choosing the right robots, the
project team compared diff erent providers,
but quickly decided on OMRON. “The dimensions of the robot had to be small, and that’s where OMRON’s devices fi t best. We wanted a system without tracks because it takes up less space. In addition, the AMR can easily be linked to SAP, which was another of our requirements. The interfaces were all there,” said Seufzer.
Further advantages in favour of the OMRON robots included ease of use, relatively high transport speeds and functional reliability in confi ned areas. If an AMR ever comes across an employee who is in its way, the robot can warn them, or use alternative routes. This never involves loud beeps or a warning tone: the OMRON systems have voices similar to those used in navigational systems. Communication takes place between machine and AMR, but also between AMR and employee. For safety reasons, departures are announced in advance and the employee is informed about the prevailing situation. Coordination of several AMRs, including charging management, is carried out autonomously. There are always two robots on the move while the third is being charged. Philips reports that the quality of the transported parts has improved, with a continuous fl ow of materials. Previously, material transport by the employees took about 15 minutes per day. Seufzer says: “This is valuable time that can be used far more sensibly.” In this context, calculations have shown that the use of an AMR can increase the OEE by 3%.
Robot safety is another aspect that was considered. In an emergency, for example, the OMRON AMR can drive to a place where it
Jaqueline is one of the three OMRON autonomous mobile robots running about their tasks at Philips in Klagenfurt, Austria
is out of the way of any emergency team. Today the robots transport 500 to 1,000 cutting elements per carrier. Each AMR can carry up to ten containers; there are 10,000 elements with a total weight of 60-70kg. The robot colleagues – Jaqueline, Chiara and Sepp – drive every half hour. A single round trip covers about 400m. In the future, the aim is to transport signifi cantly heavier materials with mobile robots to further relieve the burden on employees.
Philips reports that with the AMRs the quality of the transported parts has improved, with a continuous flow of materials
26 March 2021 | Automation
Outlook for the future The migration from manual transport to automated processes supported by AMRs is a good entry point for many companies that are moving towards Factory 4.0 – including Philips. This is partly because their introduction can take place in an easily understandable and tangible way. In the next step, an AMR will be actively integrated into the production process in cooperation with OMRON’s partners. In addition to transport functions, the mobile robot can also take on the independent activation of systems, the completion of process steps and the booking of orders via QR codes. Fully-automatic booking in the SAP system is also planned. A combination of the MES system and AMRs is another plan for the future. This means, for example, that if the supply of a material is running low, this can be communicated in advance – so the material supply is controlled by the systems.
CONTACT:
OMRON
www.omron.com
automationmagazine.co.uk
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