A flexible production environment is becoming increasingly important. One reason for this is that, in volatile times, production must be adjusted more rapidly to new framework conditions. For example, downtimes could be reduced by selectively shifting the production flow. Another reason is that customers increasingly expect individual products, which means that the number of product variants is growing. The problem: Most production environments are rigid and hardly allow any short-term changes, which are associated with great challenges and considerable expense. This does not apply to modular assembly. Here, a product being assembled passes through only the stations required for this variant – which reduces the model mix restrictions and for some variants leads to lower throughput times. Short-term increases in capacity utilization are also possible in the matrix layout. Anyone who has set up a modular assembly line as an early adopter benefits not only from lower running costs, he also achieves considerable competitive advantages.
The changeover to modular production should be planned holistically and gradually, and should start with an analysis of the actual situation. Depending on which approach is taken into consideration (Greenfield or Brownfield), the requirements must be noted in order to then select suitable hardware and the appropriate IT architecture for modular assembly. Based on this, simulations for the new production environment are implemented in order to examine the different target concepts and layouts and to be able to determine the "best fit" for the respective company, as well as target KPIs. Ideally, the concept is initially introduced in a pilot factory and stabilized before it is rolled out in other factories.
In our MHPDeepDive "Increase in Variant Diversity", we will present the concept of modular assembly and the associated advantages. Using simulation examples, we will highlight potentials and at the same time examine challenges concerning the introduction. In addition, we will provide an outlook on the control of production via intelligent algorithms.
What awaits you in our MHPDeepDive:
- You will find out how modular assembly can be implemented in practice.
- We will provide specific simulation examples and highlight potentials.
- You will learn how production can be controlled by means of intelligent algorithms.
Speakers:
Dr. Julian Popp
Manager, SU DSC, MHP
Witold Kopytynski
Manager, SU DSC, MHP
