Following an extensive proof of concept at the customer’s plant in Rastatt, Ubisense was awarded the contract to equip the S-Class assembly line in the Sindelfingen plant. The project was divided into two phases: the pilot phase covered 2 line segments and the associated DC tools provided the means to integrate and test the solution; the system will now be installed at the remaining stations and all the DC tools will be integrated.
The Ubisense Smart Factory System automates the recognition of tool / vehicle interactions on the production line, eliminating the need to scan vehicle ID numbers and ensuring that the correct tool program is being used for the particular vehicle at the station. In addition, the exact location of each vehicle is tracked continuously and matched to the vehicle ID which is then supplied to external worker assistance systems as the vehicle arrives at each station. This is particularly useful on line segments where traditional vehicle sensing technologies are not available.
The result of using the Ubisense Smart Factory System will be a significant reduction in unproductive assembly time, as well as eliminating many errors that can occur in manual operations such as scanning.
The Smart Factory System is integrated with the car manufacturer’s PLUS manufacturing execution system and with the DC tools via the Atlas Copco Open Protocol. The final solution will also control other devices and the tools of several other vendors. Ubisense is implementing the solution together with Atlas Copco following the strategic partnership which the two companies launched in 2009.
Richard Green, Ubisense CEO, added: “We are delighted to be working with Daimler and Atlas Copco, both renowned for the high quality of their products and their manufacturing excellence. We look forward to supporting our customers in achieving their ambitious manufacturing goals over the years to come.”
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For more information please vist: www.ubisense.net
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