Bernd Williams-Boock, CEO of the Ortrander iron foundry in Eastern Germany had a problem. The supplier of parts for the heating and the automotive industry has experienced a three fold growth in production in the last five years. “We had to introduce new technology to improve on our manual processes and keep up with the growth,” said Williams-Boock. “I had to know how many finished parts of which type I had and where to find them so I could meet the customer shipment deadlines.” Williams-Boock also needed to know the current status of the unfinished parts in sand blasting or clean-up to determine whether the company could meet its commitments and forecasts.
The Fraunhofer Centre for applied logistics and information systems in Cottbus developed the concept of an intelligent fork-lift to meet the requirements. The fork-lift is fitted out with a passive RFID reader so that it can identify containers that it picks up, an electronic weighing device so that it can determine the weight of the container (and hence the number of parts it contains), and Ubisense precise RTLS to determine the precise location and orientation of the truck, and a terminal to enable the truck operator to verify the data being collected and communicate with the back-end logistics system. The Ubisense precise RTLS system records where each container is set down in the logistics system so that the truck operator can be directed there to retrieve it. Information regarding the status of the parts in the container may also be added via the terminal. The location of the container provides additional information as to where the parts are and therefore what step they have reached in the manufacturing process. “This joint development in a tier 1 manufacturing enterprise is second to none”, declared Terry Phebey, VP of European Sales with Ubisense. “The material flow solution developed together with the Fraunhofer Institute, Ortrander, and the other partners involved can be rolled out not only to other foundries but any manufacturer looking for a more efficient production process.”
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