Success Story: Zykluszeitoptimierung mit GADV

Success Story: 20 % Reduction of throughput time in production

Project content and brief description

A solution was developed for a process system for potting dialysers for a large medical manufacturer to increase system availability and eliminate material bottlenecks. The challenge was to process the potting compound within a limited time window and minimise material losses. Our aim was to automatically synchronise the material flow by optimising the cycle time and to make efficient use of personnel in the production process

Customer requirements

Increasing production efficiency by adapting the machine cycle to the requirements of the value stream.

Resource-saving production to optimise production processes.

Avoidance of future material bottlenecks and losses.

Realisation of a variable cycle time optimised for the material flow.

Support through human-machine communication to save energy

Solution

Our team developed a comprehensive solution to determine the optimum cycle time and improve the material flow. The main components of the solution include:

Development of a solution to determine the optimum cycle time and material flow:

Proactive system control with variable and optimised cycle times.

Data acquisition and evaluation by an algorithm that calculates the cycle time for an optimum material flow.

Specification of the calculated value to the system via the MES

Use of artificial intelligence:

Execution of the test plans for the respective construction machine.

Identification and generation of the test plan from the central SQL database using a unique manufacturer number.

Initialisation of all necessary hardware components for measured variable acquisition.

Central storage and logging of test results for further analyses.

Use of human-machine communication:

Algorithm at MES level for assessing the urgency of a possible personnel requirement.

Forwarding to employees via a smartwatch for interactive staff coordination

Value for the customer

The implementation of the solution led to a significant reduction in throughput time in production. The main benefits for the customer are

Optimum throughput: Variable cycle time avoids stocks due to bottleneck situations.

Increased system availability: personnel are requested directly from the system using a smartwatch.

Reduced material waste: Automatic setting of the optimum cycle time.

Reduced system wear: Adapted cycle time reduces system wear.

Our customer emphasises: "We have succeeded in reducing inventories, system wear and material losses and increasing system availability."

This project was honoured with an Industry 4.0 award from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection.