A world leading manufacturer of electric vehicles had nearly 500 controllers along their assembly line. With each controller being programmed one at a time, the inefficient solution caused excessive production downtime. By choosing the right line management software solution, productivity was improved driving substantially reduced costs and sustainability.
Productivity refers to accomplishing tasks efficiently, whether it's manufacturing products or completing work in other contexts. To be productive, individuals and organizations seek to achieve more with less. This means maximizing output while minimizing inputs such as time, raw materials, and energy. Sustainable practices that reduce waste and rework can improve productivity and offer measurable environmental benefits. For example, reducing resource waste can lead to cost savings and reduced environmental impact, which are important for long-term sustainability.
This case is about a major manufacturer of electric vehicles (EV) that needed to enhance operational productivity. One area of attention was their tool controller programming processes. At the time, each controller along the entire assembly line was programmed individually, one at a time, resulting in excess downtime as the program parameters had to be written down or pasted into every controller. With nearly 500 controllers in the assembly line, this inefficient and time-consuming solution cost the EV manufacturer $22,000 USD for every minute of downtime. To solve this problem, the company developed a new centralized programming system that allowed controllers to be programmed simultaneously. This new system reduced downtime, improved productivity, and saved millions of dollars in costs.
To enhance operational productivity, the EV manufacturer implemented Atlas Copco ToolsTalk 2 line management software solution in close cooperation with Atlas Copco. This controller programming software solution allowed the manufacturer to configure all controllers along the assembly line quickly and easily from one central location, thereby reducing downtime and saving costs. With features such as configuration master, trace analysis and export, and line software visibility and management, the solution improved productivity, increased uptime, and reduced the number of manufacturing defects, reworks, and recalls. A year after implementation, the EV manufacturer saved over $2.5 million USD in control programming downtime-related costs.
This solution is part of Atlas Copco's concept of Smart Integrated Assembly, which provides industrial manufacturers with a portfolio, structure, and ecosystem of hardware, software, and services offerings for Smart Factories. By helping manufacturers do more with less, this concept enables more efficient, flexible, adaptable, and safe manufacturing processes, reduces downtime, and optimizes the use of materials and energy with substantial waste reduction. In short, Smart Integrated Assembly offers sustainable productivity, allowing customers to be more productive, save money, and protect the environment.
The benefits are measurable and proven. The outcomes are:
- Increased uptime
- Full line control
- Reduced number of manufacturing defects, rework and recalls
- Quick and easy line configuration
- Improved production scalability and flexibility
- Less dependency on individual operator skills
- Ability to increase operator-safety by automating high risk operations
All this while also reducing carbon-footprint thereby driving a more sustainable manufacturing process.
The roadmap to more smarter, productive and sustainable manufacturing
Smart Integrated Assembly is our concept for industrial manufacturers looking to transform and implement Smart Factories. It encompasses our portfolio, structure and ecosystem of hardware, software and services offerings providing unrivalled value in each step of the customers’ product manufacturing cycles.
It offers customers a competitive edge measured in terms of more efficient, flexible, adaptable, and safe manufacturing processes, reduced downtime, better use of materials and energy with a substantial waste reduction. In short, helping our customers do more with less. Sustainable productivity that allows our customers to do more with less More productive, save money and the environment.
To learn more about how Atlas Copco can help reduce the carbon footprint in industrial manufacturing, download our whitepaper “Smart Integrated Assembly – Industrial Manufacturing in the era of Industry 4.0 and beyond”. Or get in touch with us today!