Innovation

Due to the higher customization of products to customer groups and needs, body-in-white manufacturing industries are facing higher variant assembly at the later stages of the production line, thus increasing production costs per unit. Flexible production processes that involve flexible material flows, non-rigid manufacturing sequences, and the automatic reconfiguration of tools are regarded as the pillars of a resilient production system. This article presents a conceptual solution for flexible Body-in-White sheet metal production with autonomous collaborative robotic systems to make product costs affordable for a higher competitive advantage.

Assembly is an important part of industrial production and is also characterized by a high proportion of manual work. Manufacturing companies have an intrinsic interest in increasing personnel productivity and preventing unit labor costs from rising. Many thus hope to gain economic benefits by implementing digitalization projects. The potential of digitalization in assembly must be exploited to achieve these goals.

The production of cooked ham involves a number of challenges. In production, cuts of meat are put through in a multi-stage curing and cooking process involving brine. This can lead to fluctuations in quality due to structural defects in the meat. The result: the brine is not optimally absorbed. An AI model trained on historical data intends to solve the problem.

The constant advance of digitalization confronts companies with new challenges and opportunities. Immediate data processing is now ubiquitous and the advantages are obvious. However, broadband coverage in Germany is insufficient, which makes it difficult to improve processes. Mathematical approaches and machine learning enable timely optimization and smooth production.

Machine learning offers a wide range of potential, especially in production, and is therefore becoming increasingly important. However, small and medium-sized businesses are lacking guidelines that are specifically tailored to their individual challenges to guide them step-by-step through the process. In conjunction with a potential analysis, the determination of relevant prerequisites and a maturity assessment, this article can serve as a guide for SMEs.