Automotive

The Continental Automotive plant in Brandýs nad Labem is a global supplier of automotive electronics for many global brands with nearly 2,500 employees. In addition to modern production facilities for electronics and mechanical fuel transport units, the plant also has its own plastic moulding and
painting shop, where parts for part of the electronic production are created. The site also houses an R&D centre with its own sample room, which works on product development not only for Brandýs but also for other Continental plants around the world.

In the automotive industry, the so-called Call-offs or Forecasts are used to specify
the required deliveries. These are reports that provide an outlook over a longer period and are thus the basis for the planning of production and purchasing. At the same time, the call-offs can change over time. They are constantly being refined as the delivery date approaches. An abrupt change in the call-off may also occur because
of so-called immediate need whenever the car company is short of components that it must obtain as soon as possible, otherwise the continuity of production is threatened.

For proper production planning, dispatch, and invoicing, it is important to be able to process these reports and to pass the data on to other systems so that the end result meets the customer’s requirements. Interconnecting the whole supply chain containing logistics, various suppliers, and manufacturers into one ecosystem may significantly reduce the reaction time needed to satisfy the changes in the call-offs and to adapt the production to such changes quickly. Additionally remanufacturing can optimize the whole production also with respect to handle disruptions caused by insufficient-quality assemblies.

A crucial part of this pilot is the availability of a simulation model of the production, which is going to work as a digital twin, i.e. it will be able to accept production orders and execute them.

• Missing material: Difference between real and to-be supply in the warehouse, including disruptions in the supply chain.
• Bottleneck in intralogistics that may become part of unexpected downtime. This may happen if the AMR fleet management encounters some issues and does not operate as planned. Such an event can become a long-lasting issue.
• Unexpected downtime due to technical breakdowns or organisational breakdowns in intralogistics.

• A lack of operators connected to shift planning due to their unavailability or illness. It is necessary to calculate in advance when planning the production with the operators available, preferably with the use of online application.
• Call-offs fluctuation that can increase or decrease quantity from OEMs, compared to long-term planning. There is a need to avoid overproduction (obsoletes).

• Connection to the existing infrastructure (ERP, MES): Use real-time data available on existing systems (MaaS input data).
• Duration of the replanning: Considering also the schedule when the product to be produced and must be delivered to the customer.
• Evaluation with the digital twin of the production: In case a Production Lines Digital Twin already exists is mandatory to standardise the output/input for operational production plan evaluation.
• Be aware of work-in-progress material out of line: It extends the available stocks after it is disassembled. Management systems often do not know about the material in the work in progress.

• Autonomous system without interaction with the planner, including the possibility for the planner to set the priorities. Maximisation of OEE (increase availability, decrease changeover time).
• Connect production line to production orders: Automatic download of the production orders to the machines so that the operators cannot change the production. There must still be the possibility of manual intervention in case of unexpected errors through minute-to-minute planning.