In September, the first Business Units of the Schunk Group started using the new digital solution on the shop floor and, with their selected pilots, took a successful step as part of the "Digital Production Assistance" program of Schunk's digital strategy.
With the help of the defined solution, various use cases have already been implemented on the shop floor. The main use cases include digitalization and compliance with assembly and setup instructions, the creation of digital checklists and forms, and the implementation of efficient communication on the shopfloor. There are also plans for the digitalization of instructions for machine maintenance and servicing, tool maintenance and inspection as well as digital documentation or instructions in shipping.
First pilot projects successfully completed
At the Weiss Technik sites in Reiskirchen and Balingen (project managers: Sascha Roth, Mark Weimer, Stefan Naschke, Steffen Polke and Oliver Kiefer), OptoTech in Lollar (Jonas Paul and Christoph Stach) and Sonosystems in Wettenberg (Laura Oster, Manuel Hupfeld and Ingo Westen), colleagues have been implementing their various use cases as part of the pilots and testing different hardware setups since the pilot launch in September. The Business Units have now successfully completed their pilots and are already working flat out on scaling up to other production areas and products.
Further pilots launched
In the meantime, colleagues from Schunk Transit Systems in Wettenberg (Jana Pugin) have already started their pilot and are implementing their use cases. Since the beginning of the year, colleagues from Schunk Xycarb Technology (Fred Reijnen, Dave van Heeswijk and Filippo Zuccardi Merli) and Schunk Ingenieurkeramik (Daniel Renger, Julius Hüls and Benedikt Havermann) have also successfully completed their project kick-offs and are now also starting to implement their pilots. With Schunk Carbon Processing and Schunk Kohlenstofftechnik (Chiara Schneider, Tobias Eussner, Salvatore Di Stefano) in Heuchelheim, the Business Unit Industry is also next in line.
The initial findings and feedback from the "Digital Production Assistance" program are very positive and show, among other things, significant potential for shortening training times for new employees, reducing the effort involved in document maintenance and ensuring continuous quality.
"Synergy effects for the entire Schunk Group"
"Sonosystems was looking for a suitable worker assistance system with the aim of improving and ensuring the quality of the products on the one hand and supporting the workers on the other," says Manuel Hupfeld, Head of Ultrasonic Production at Sonosystems, looking back. "With the support of the Global Digitalization and Global Operations departments, we were able to define a partner who could best map the required use cases in a selection process. Through this cooperation and networking with other BUs during the course of the project, further synergy effects were achieved for the entire Schunk Group."
Interested?
Sounds interesting? If you would like to find out more about the solution and whether it could be of interest to your location, please contact Emin Akdis or Ibrahim Can. During the discussion, we can clarify what the problem is in your area and what the solution can offer. A starter pack is then used at a workstation or in a work area, for example. The Global Digitalization and Global Operations departments help with the implementation of the starter package and a performance review is carried out. Once everything is in place, it is rolled out across the entire site - so that paper in production will soon be a thing of the past.