Motivation

Small and medium-sized enterprises in the German mechanical and plant engineering sector are reluctant and in some cases sceptical about the topic of Industry 4.0. The reasons for this are a diffuse information situation, the lack of accessibility to best practice implementations or the lack of expertise on how to analyse and promote Industry 4.0 solutions in their own companies.

Through the research project “Efficient Factory 4.0” (EFA 4.0), Industry 4.0 solutions are implemented in an existing production environment, the process learning factory “Center for Industrial Productivity” (CiP), and the increase in efficiency through their use is evaluated. The entire value stream of the production of a pneumatic cylinder of the CiP is considered.

Objectives and approach

The starting point is an analysis and evaluation of good practice examples for Industrie 4.0 applications already available on the market or being implemented. In the second phase of the project, possible applications in the CiP will be worked out and so-called “use cases” developed in cooperation with the project partners. The use cases show how efficiency increases in existing production systems can be achieved through the integration of information and communication technologies. In concrete terms, the use cases are as follows:

• component as information carrier and uniform data management-Paperless, integrated quality assurance
• Digital value stream mapping
• Condition & Energy Monitoring
• Flexible, intelligent worker assistance systems

In the third phase, the applications are integrated into the CiP. The effectiveness of the use cases is evaluated with the existing CiP performance measurement system. In the final phase, the concepts developed will be presented in workshops to interested companies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises.

Funding source