Autor: Robert Schmitt

Due to an increased product variety, the need for flexibly configured assembly systems is steadily growing. In contrast to classic assembly lines with predominantly rigid conveyor technology, efficient, individual assembly routes with cycle-independent processing times are implemented in a dynamically interconnected assembly system using intelligent control and AGVs. This article presents the most important factors for the IT-related implementation of a dynamically interconnected assembly system and shows which existing standards from the field of Industry 4.0 can be used for this purpose.

The complexity of production and logistics systems generates the demand for industrial transformation: with sensor technology that enables efficient, flexible and reliable process monitoring and control using a 5G communication-infrastructure. In the “5GSensPRO” project, the Fraunhofer IPT in Aachen is developing a modularly expandable sensor cloud system for existing machines. Within a unique research environment, the world’s first 5G mobile radio network provides the opportunity to investigate and implement applications of 5G in production engineering.

In terms of Industrie 4.0, especially SMEs are facing the challenge of integrating data both vertically and horizontally. To achieve this task, common solutions such as ERP are increasingly replaced by manufacturing executions systems (MES). Due to the direct connection in production, MES allow a production control and serve as bridge between planning and manufacturing level. Data integration is furthermore the basis for an automated risk management in production. The research project quadrika develops an MES module that predictively recognizes risks and thus prevents faults.

Short product lifecycles, customer-specific products and high flexibility: Producing companies are facing the challenge that their production systems must meet constantly increasing requirements. Traditional, static interlinked production systems are increasingly reaching their limits. There is a need for a new form of assembly organization, the so-called dynamically interconnected assembly.

Companies have to be thoroughly agile. Agility means that companies must be able to consider two things at the same time: On the one hand, companies have to maintain the quality of their own products and services at all times. Continuous innovations could help with this. On the other hand, companies have to be able to adapt themselves to these permanent changes due to these innovations, whereby the adaptation speed must be as high as possible. The question arises as to what extent the cultural identity of nations play a role in terms of their mutability, flexibility and vitality.

Fulfilling individual customer demands requires a high level of flexibility in the manufacturing industry. To produce heterogeneous orders, companies need various production resources while capacity requirements vary. Cooperation in value-adding networks allows for the trade of production resources and thus for the dynamic adaption of capacities. This contribution describes a cloud-based platform for the B2B exchange of production capacities, which supports an efficient, flexible and individual production in industry 4.0.

In many organizations process-oriented management systems suffer missing acceptance by employees, quick to return a verdict: no practical benefit, merely for audit trail bureaucracy, or only suited for experts on the system. This weakness can be resolved successfully by combining process-oriented quality and know-ledge management in an innovative way, enriched by principles from social media. By including useful applications and providing a consistent integration of production systems like ERP or CRM, the management system will become a valuable process portal. With the help of this portal the user can reliably navigate through the various IT solutions implemented in the organisation.

The view on quality as a critical competitive factor has been established not only in Western countries but is on the rise in emerging markets, too. In the complex of products and rising customer expectations, many companies try to reduce costs and increase the market opportunities for their products by applying broad-based quality initiatives. Normatively distinct quality management offers only few instructions for these approaches, which is constraining the success of the initiatives. Within the framework of an international study on quality management in manufacturing companies, critical success factors and best practices have been identified on the way to the sustainable establishment of effective quality management. On basis of a developed maturity assessment tool, companies are given the ability to identify the status of their own quality management in comparison to best practice.

The trend for product individualization results in a demand for small and more flexible production series with a considerable diversity of components. The improvement of manufacturing and assembly flexibility has a direct impact on the control complexity of the manufacturing tasks leading to big challenges for the quality assurance systems. The quality assurance strategy that is nowadays used for mass production is unable to cope with the inspection flexibility needed among small series production. The major challenge faced by a quality assurance system applied to small series production is to guarantee the needed quality level already at the first run (“first time right on time”). This demands a constant adaption of the quality assurance system behavior according to the dynamic manufacturing conditions, which can be achieved by the improvement of cognitive and autonomy aspects of the manufacturing systems. This work introduces the concept of Cognitive Production Metrology as an ...