Takt time, which is the product assembly duration needed to match demand, is a key metric for any automotive manufacturer. And often a challenge too. Eliminating manpower dependency for material handling in factories has helped manufacturers reduce this significantly. Not to mention a slew of other benefits.
Eliminating manpower dependency for material handling in factories has helped increase the productivity and consistency that is required to maintain desired takt time. Let us look at a recent challenge we addressed for an automotive client along with the solution, and of course, the benefits for the client.
About Our Client & The Challenge
One of the largest heavy vehicle manufacturers was looking to eliminate dependency on manpower for their material handling operations. To be specific, they wanted higher productivity, efficiency and reduced points or chances of failure. A way to achieve this was to automate the movement of engines from the testbed (post-production) to the storage line.
Botsync’s Solution
Automated movement of engines was to be achieved with little or no changes to infrastructure and set up of the shop floor. And there were other constraints too, such as traffic, flooring, and available aisle space.
Our team analyzed the as-is state of material handling operations and did a thorough gap analysis in line with the desired to-be state. We then designed, recommended, tested and successfully proposed an automation solution consisting of a fleet of MAG300 Trolley Lifter AMRs with an intelligent in-house software platform, syncOS. Fleet Manager was configured based on onsite traffic and space constraints. We made zero changes to the infrastructure as MAG AMR’s navigation and management are truly autonomous and don’t require any installation of sensors for navigation. Now, the operators simply press a push button to trigger a request for MAG AMRs!
What are MAG AMRs?
They are a fleet of autonomous mobile robots that automate intralogistics operations, specifically for heavy goods movement of pallets, shelves, or trolleys (like in this case) across warehouses and factories. They are also a step-up from automated guided vehicles (AGVs) that require operators to build a path using magnetic strips for AGVs to navigate and execute tasks. In terms of movement and flexibility, AMRs have an edge over AGVs as they move around using built-in sensors or pre-saved maps.
The Benefits
For the client, our automation solution can support up to 3 testbeds for one of the manufacturing plants. This ensures
– Takt time of 5 minutes per engine output across 24 hours of operation
– Completely eliminates the need for manpower and accessories to transport engines
– And, operators and supervisors now have access to visibility and tracking of engine movement through the analytics dashboard on our intuitive front-end user interface of syncOS.
What’s more?
Contrary to popular belief, we help manufacturers transit from manual to automated operations without a major upheaval of their factories and shop floors. Our solutions aren’t just adaptable, but also easily trackable. Our front-end user interface of syncOS, allows operators to change the configuration with minimal technical knowledge. It’s autonomous in movement and management, as you will have the power to modify each sub-system to meet ever-changing requirements.
So far, we have automated intralogistics operations within factories of industries such as microelectronics, PCB, car manufacturing, sanitary products, textile, machining and more.
If you’re looking to automate your facility to drive gains in productivity and efficiency, please reach out to us here. We would love to understand how we can integrate our solutions into your current facility to optimize your operations.
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