TRANSPORT INDUSTRY: DIGITAL MANUFACTURING
Highly skilled production employees at Mercedes-Benz Vans can now focus on value-added tasks, rather than parts tracking, as a network of readers (below) ensures the many options of the Sprinter are tracked throughout the production process
CHANGING EMPLOYEE TASKS “New digital technology helps relieve our highly qualified staff of routine tasks, such as documenting work steps,” says Klein. “They have extensive experience and know- how in vanmanufacturing and they should be allowed to use this in their day-to-day work.” In the past, Ludwigsfelde employees had
tomanually and repeatedly scan barcodes on themirrors and seats at various workstations in addition to their actual production job. RFID eliminates a total of seven non-value work steps per vehicle for these two components alone. RFID consequently relieves the employees of this routine task and, thanks to automatic checks, gives thempeace ofmind knowing they installed the right parts.
FULL TRACEABILITY Starting far outside the factory gates, RFID tags are applied to the components by the suppliers. They are the first to benefit from the advantages of the technology in their own logistics and production operations and are able to identify and track parts wirelessly. To track components with these RFID
transponders, readers are located at key points within the logistics and production operations. The wireless contact is established by radio waves generated by the readers. The waves power the chips and thereby prompt themto send their information. RFID also offers advantages in after-
sales, when the vehicle later is in customer hands. It allows service employees to use information stored in databases to retrace which parts are installed with ease.
AUTOMATIC GUIDED VEHICLES RFID has extended influence at Ludwigsfelde, as it is also used in the field
38 /// Environmental Engineering /// December 2017
of automatic equipment control. Ludwigsfelde has been using automated
guided vehicles (AGV) since 2012 and currently has around 20 of them. They are controlled through RFID transponders embedded in the factory floor, which supply driving commands. Tenmore AGVs will be used and additional routes will be developed with the start of production of the new Sprinter. The AGVs communicate with each other
via Bluetooth to coordinate their actions autonomously. This ensures smooth traffic flow even when several AGVs cross paths. Up to now, simultaneous co-ordination was only possible between a few vehicles. By the end of the year, the first vehicles are to be able to operate freely and thus flexibly in the buildings thanks to optical sensors. Currently, the AGVs still follow predetermined paths. The AGVs of the first generation are also able to recognise obstacles such as forklifts or pedestrians via laser scanning. In this case, they stop automatically.
SUPPORTING IT INFRASTRUCTURE The AGVs and RFID environment require a highly effective IT infrastructure. A lot of datamust be acquired, processed and provided to other areas in real time. For example, the RFID data are sent to EquipmentMonitoring, Production
Control, Quality Inspection and Parts Scheduling departments. Experts from Mercedes-Benz Vans have now developed a completely revised IT architecture together with partners. The central element is a “data highway”, which all systems can access at the same time. In addition, the different IT platforms of
the plants worldwide will be harmonised to ensure a global exchange can take place. Furthermore, the architecturemakes it possible to quickly add new digital applications – similar to the app principle of smartphones. Thismeans that once the RFID pilot project is completed successfully, other plants will be able to use the finished software immediately. Mercedes-Benz Vans will gradually roll out the new IT architecture globally starting next year.
WORLDWIDE PROJECT TEAMS AT WORK ON INTELLIGENT PRODUCTION Currently, some 100 technology and IT experts atMercedes-Benz Vans’ headquarters in Stuttgart and plants in Germany, Spain, Argentina and the USA are working onmore than 20 projects on intelligent production. The global teams co-operate closely in flat hierarchies across national and specialist unit boundaries. Employees fromLogistics, Quality
Assurance, Engineering and IT are already part of the project teams at the start of the planning phases. The relevant experts also involve production employees early to ensure the practicality of projects fromthe start. Intelligent production is a component of employee qualification and the apprenticeship programme as well. EE
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