The generation of road maps for automated guided vehicles (AGVs) in the area of logistics is increasing in complexity as a result of the changing production environment. Reasons for that are the shorter product life-cycles and the advances in the field of AGVs. So far, the generation of roadmaps for AGVs is a manual task and is therefore time-consuming and expensive. Information from different sources (e. g. the production layout and the transport matrix) have to be evaluated and be joined. A simplification offers the storage of expert knowledge of system planers in a form of artificial intelligence in a fuzzy-rule base. This concept is going to be realized in a software tool that is going to be able to automatically generate roadmaps for AGVs.
automated guided vehicles, expert system, fuzzy logic, fuzzy logic controller
Companies are confronted with a business environment that is becoming more and more turbulent. As a result the load spreading increases. The causing factors and what actions a company can do in order to overcome those problems are unknown. This article deals with the identification of potential influence-parameters on load scattering and their mapping in a simulation-model in order to determine the effects of these parameters on load spreading.
work load scattering, influencing factors, simulation model
Economic growth in Germany and Europe secures jobs and prosperity. However, the impacts on our environment are often negative. Because more goods are produced and the consumption increases, traffic and thus the greenhouse gas emissions rise. In order to keep these emissions as low as possible, the stated goal is to shift transport from road to rail. Thats why many terminal stations are preparing for rising turnover figures. However, the problem of maximizing throughput capacities is unsolved. To answer this question, the IPH has developed an innovative, event-discrete model used in a material flow simulation based on the software Plant Simulation.
connection station, simulation model, material flow simulation
The industrial production process is subjected to a high coordination and communication needs arising from the division of labor as a result of specialization. Trade-offs are omnipresent. For decision making the used indicators often do not have the same information base. The information-based reorganization of tasks can help here. The aim is to increase the decision quality and speed.
task allocation, information needs, organizational design, production indicators
Manufacturing companies are forced to reduce their energy costs because of rising electricity tariffs. Due to the increasing volatility of energy rates so far unused potential arises. As a sub-discipline of production planning and control the manufacturing control determines the temporal process of work orders and has great impact on the energy costs of the production. This article describes the approach of an energy cost-efficient manufacturing control, taking account of the established targets.
time-varying energy costs, fluctuating energy consumption, manufacturing control, production plannin
When designing delivery concepts, companies often have a choice between different alternatives. The decision between these alternatives is no longer made only on their costs and logistical efficiency. Rather the ecological compatibility of the processes is more and more considered. This paper introduces ways to integrate environmental sustainability into decision-making.
ecological evaluation, delivery concepts, green logistics
The overall objective of the project was to develop a method for the automated CAD modeling and costing of progressive dies. The method should firstly enable the automated creation of a CAD model of the tool based on a strip layout. The tools should be modularized and the interactions of the modules to the tool design are described in rules. The rules should then enable the automated CAD modeling. Secondly, a link of CAD models with automated costing and monitoring should be done. Basis of the costing and monitoring were the CAD models of the tool and the established standard processes in the tool production.
artificial intelligence, tool and die industry, determination of manufacturing costs, CAD-automation
The approach "Ident Over-Light" combines the positive features of existing auto-ID methods such as RFID, barcode and labels, in a new concept, whose special feature is the visible light which is used for communication with the information carrier. The information carrier is rewritable and automatically readable both for the employee in plain text as well as for an automated reading system.
auto-id, rfid, qr-code, visible light communication
A breakdown of a wind turbine entails high costs. The more reliable the prognosis of the condition of every single component is carried out, the better the maintenance can be planned. For example the maintenance could run in a time with low wind yield. Furthermore, impending breakdowns can be detected and avoided. Within the project “SteigProg” data-mining algorithms were analyzed for their ability to condition prognosis in wind turbines. An improved condition prognosis contributes a more efficient operation of wind turbines. Measurable savings result by minimizing downtimes, improved planning and shortening of maintenance operations.
condition prognosis, wind turbines
The growing dynamics in the economic environment necessitate new approaches for analyzing and influencing the dynamic behavior of production networks. Analysis of nonlinear dynamics can help to differentiate the causes of the formation of dynamics. One key cause is the production network partners’ differing responsiveness, i.e. the logistics capability to react.
supply chain design, logistics reactivity, peripheral production network, dynamic systems
Today most technical parts and components are made of monolithic materials. Nevertheless, the previously used monolithic materials reach their technological and constructive limits, so that an improvement of the component properties can be realized by hybrid parts. Forging of previously joined semi-finished products to net shape hybrid components is a promising method to produce functional adapted parts in a few process steps. This new process chain offers a number of advantages compared to other manufacturing technologies. Examples are the production of specific load-adapted forging parts with a high level of material utilization, an improvement of the joining zone caused by the followed forming process and an easy to implement joining process because of the simple geometries of the semi-finished products. This paper describes the production process of hybrid steel parts, which are produced by a combination of a deposition welding process with a subsequent hot forging (upsetting) or cross-wedge-rolling. It could be shown that the innovative process chain enables the production of hybrid parts whereby the forging processes lead to an improvement of the mechanical properties of the laser deposited material.
process chain, deposition welding, hot forging, cross-wedge-rolling
The production of large-scaled products is often associated not only with great challenges, but also with enormous costs. The way how the product is designed offers the greatest potential for cost reduction. At the IPH, engineers are currently developing a new modular design for XXL products.
xxl products, modular design
Within the research project "Intelligente Schmiedewerkzeuge zur Fehlerreduktion in der Massivumformung" (AiF 17009 N) intelligent forging tools and a specific software were developed which allow an identification of forged errors and a mold filling monitoring. This article presents the underlying concept and the developed software.
forging, process monitoring
Planning in a multi-site, non-mass production environment is a special challenge because of several sources of uncertainty. Unlike in mass production facilities, in our setting the current state is not easily and exactly known when the case of re-planning occurs. The planning procedure has to contribute to that fact, as well as to further uncertainties concerning the effects of a plan when evaluating the plan. Thus in this work, we apply online simulation as means for re-planning multi-site production in the case of resource failure. This work is a first step where two alternatives are considered when a resource fails: either wait for repair of the resource, or transport another instance of this resource from another site, if there is more than one available. Our study shows that the planning using online simulation is superior to a static strategy such as 'always wait for repair' or 'always import resource' in case of resource failure.
assembly control, simulation, production planning and control, failure management
The energy costs‘s share in the total is increasing in producing companies. Due to variations in the energy consumption over the day, arising power peaks lead to high energy costs. Power peaks could be reduced by load management systems. But these systems could have a negative impact on logistic performance figures. A simultaneous optimization of logistic performance figures and the energy consumption is not available yet. In this article a method for the energy cost-based production scheduling is presented. This method schedules jobs on machines in a way that the energy consumption is equalized and the logistic performance (makespan, stock, job delays, workload) is ensured.
energy costs, power peaks, production scheduling
The energy costs‘s share in the total is increasing in producing companies. Due to variations in the energy consumption over the day, arising power peaks lead to high energy costs. Power peaks could be reduced by load management systems. But these systems could have a negative impact on logistic performance figures. A simultaneous optimization of logistic performance figures and the energy consumption is not available yet. In this article a method for the energy cost-based production scheduling is presented. This method schedules jobs on machines in a way that the energy consumption is equalized and the logistic performance (makespan, stock, job delays, workload) is ensured.
energy costs, power peaks, production scheduling
The energy costs‘s share in the total is increasing in producing companies. Due to variations in the energy consumption over the day, arising power peaks lead to high energy costs. Power peaks could be reduced by load management systems. But these systems could have a negative impact on logistic performance figures. A simultaneous optimization of logistic performance figures and the energy consumption is not available yet. In this article a method for the energy cost-based production scheduling is presented. This method schedules jobs on machines in a way that the energy consumption is equalized and the logistic performance (makespan, stock, job delays, workload) is ensured.
energy costs, power peaks, production scheduling
The usable wind energy increases exponentially by increasing the height of wind turbine generators. The material requirements and the tower weight increases disproportionately high by growing tower height. In current designs, the height of towers is limited. The application of lightweight design concepts in the production of wind turbine tower sections can lead to a reduction in the weight with the same tower stiffness. Therefore lightweight designs have great potential to increase wind turbine efficiency. In this paper, the results of the research for lightweight concepts and their implementation on towers and a guiding systematic approach are presented. As part of the research, design concepts have been developed. These design concepts allow the mass reduction, with constant stiffness, for the wind turbine towers on land (onshore). Several investigation loops of these lightweight designs were run. Different concepts of bionics, aviation, aerospace and automotive have been investigated for their suitability in wind turbine towers. A suitable concept was identified based on trapezoidal sheets. Using these sheets, the weight of towers can be reduced by 20 %.
xxl-product, large-scale, xxl, wind turbine, wind power, lightweight construction, tower constructio
At the Institut für Integrierte Produktion Hannover gGmbH (IPH) a method is currently being developed, that supports the controlling of logistical targets and associated logistics costs in the supply chain for the assembly of wind energy plants. The considered supply chain comprises all steps from the production of the individual components up to the handover to the customer. The method enables continuous prediction whether date variances have a critical monetary and scheduling impact on the project success.
material provisioning, site assembly, cost controlling, schedule deviation, early warning system, fo
Indoor positioning is the backbone of many advanced intra-logistic applications. As opposed to unified outdoor satellite positioning systems, there are many different technical approaches to indoor positioning. Depending on the application, there are different trade-offs between accuracy, range, and costs. In this paper we present a new concept for a 4-degree-of-freedom (4-DOF) positioning system to be used for vehicle tracing in a logistic facility. The system employs optical data transmission between active infrastructure and receiver devices. Compared to existing systems, these optical technologies promise to achieve better accuracy at lower costs. We will introduce the positioning algorithm and an experimental setup of the system.
optical indoor positioning, data transmission, signal processing, image processing, flexible warehou
