APPROACH

Due to the conditions described above, the company decided to invest in an interlinked, integrated production system. To design a functional and sustainable concept, the following approach was taken:

• Recording of the existing situation
• Analysis of the parts spectrum according to quantities and necessary machining operations
• Creation of a reference lot for the machine specification, including

o  Future work sequences

o  New lead time scheduling

o  Determination of the latest reasonable start time for the different part families (backward scheduling)

Sorting criteria for the parts to be made available to the downstream processes.

• Creation of a requirement specification with the necessary requirements, such as, among others:

o  Description of input materials

o  Description of the components to be produced

o  Definition of the necessary processes and machining requirements

o  Definition of the required output

o  Elaboration of the interfaces to the upstream and downstream processes

o  Description of the secondary processes

o  Clarification of the acceptance criteria

• Execution of project discussions with the machine manufacturers in question
• Evaluation of the machine concepts offered.
• Monitoring of the project up to the awarding of the contract
  

RESULTS

• Construction of a Batch Size 1 Line consisting of an automatic panel storage system, a cutting line, a decoupling buffer, an edge banding line, and a sorting storage system.
• Concept for the integration of the Batch Size 1 Line into the existing production situation has been developed
• Machine concepts are compared, evaluated, and a recommendation for action is prepared
• Negotiable plant concept ready for order placement
• Output approx. 1300 parts per shift
• Reduction of personnel requirements by approx. 40%