MOTIVATION

The automotive industry is undergoing change. Electrification and digitalization are fundamentally altering it. As a result, the global production network of Mercedes-Benz with all its vehicle and powertrain factories is also changing. Motivated by this, the project deals with a future production system for the German luxury car manufacturer. The project takes place in harmony with other companies that are also undergoing transformation.

OBJECTIVE AND APPROACH

The project develops and implements a resilient production concept through the integration of innovative technologies. This allows for quicker adjustments to unpredictable changes in market and technology requirements, enabling the timely production of future products. Based on various necessary technical innovations, this initially means a restructuring. The new structure is based on the DevOps concept developed in the software industry, where development, planning, implementation, and production no longer occur organizationally separated, sequentially, or partially in parallel, but these functions are designed and accountable together from start to finish (E2E). Production becomes smarter and gains the necessary competence to implement changes based on its current status, allowing it to better respond to external influences.

INNOVATION AND PERSPECTIVES

In a real laboratory, 8 work packages for implementing a resilient competency factory are integrated. The DevOps concept in production means:

• Integration of digital twins to implement updates and adjustments in ongoing production

• Establishment of technology-independent data formats and interfaces to enable digital twins as a central data source and single source of truth (SSoT) throughout their entire lifecycle

• Development of human-machine interfaces for easy intuitive operation of digital twins and necessary qualification of the operating employees

OUR CONTRIBUTION

Connected shop floor (AP1)

The goal is to develop a unified software platform for distributed communication systems of the shop floor, enabling industrial end users of automotive production to master application-driven complexity and adaptability, and to set up and operate future-proof automation systems. An approach is sought that prevents vendor lock-ins and enables powerful communication through open yet secure standards, allowing complex automation systems to be efficiently enabled through automated functions while keeping them modifiable and expandable.

Mobile quality gates (AP3)

The goal is to develop a mobile, intuitive visual inspection system that can be easily operated by workers and trained within minutes with just a few images. The so-called quality gate, consisting of hardware and connected software, should be usable locally and have cloud/edge support, allowing it to connect with facilities. The application focuses on inline process control. Additionally, a quality gate that can be intuitively set up (based on AI), which can be quickly adapted and trained on new components and environments, is to be the result of the sub-project. Inspection items include monitoring of component placement or condition in production. In this context, the focus is particularly on quickly training new components without programming knowledge or experience with AI.