Digital Twin Controls Industrial Manufacturing Complexity:
Automating Manual Manufacturing Steps with Production Line Digitization from INTRANAV

With an ever-increasing range of model variants to be produced, the question arises as to how the high complexity of production, especially in variant production, can be monitored, time-consuming and error-prone scanning processes dispensed with, and all quality standards continuously maintained. The key to success is the combination of process virtualization with real-time indoor track & trace data and digitized workflows that automate previous manual processes in manufacturing to a high degree. For production to flow smoothly, pre-assembly and main assembly must be synchronized, otherwise specified order time windows cannot be met and production delays occur. Plausibility checks prior to main assembly must be reliable and automatic, as incorrect assembly can lead to considerable time and cost expenditures as well as safety risks. INTRANAV provides valuable real-time location data for process optimization and automation to optimize your production processes as well as material supply and flow. With INTRANAV, documentation and traceability of your processes is available at the push of a button via reports. With the new automated processes and workflows through highly accurate real-time location data, you are able to avoid bottlenecks, shortages, errors and significantly reduce search times.

Optimization Potential in Production

• Basis for plausibility of pre- and main assembly synchronization of the cycles

  

  Reduction of material merging errors

  Thanks to continuous real-time tracking of the frames, the entire manufacturing process is transparently mapped as a digital twin. System comparisons with SAP check the plausibility of the components for the further assembly process.

   

• Scan-free infrastructure

  

  Reduction of booking efforts and errors

  Through virtual zones, all cycle-related production feedback is automatically posted to SAP in real time.

• Improve cycle utilization and control

  

  Reduction of idle cycles and idle times

  The Real-Time Digital Twin enables production planners to plan material and production times in advance.

• Control of variant production

  

  Compliance with the quality assurance of the individual production steps

  End-to-end tracking of the load carriers in the respective cycle enables production managers to check at any time whether the production steps are running synchronously and to be alerted in case of KPI deviations.

• Optimized material flow of the production line

  

  Minimization of production planning effort through retrograde real-time analyses

  Through real-time data collection and KPI reconciliations of the new automated processes, bottlenecks, shortages, dwell times, cycle time, unnecessary stops, disruptions, delays, process length or total time taken to complete a cycle can be analyzed.

• Automatic and efficient material replenishment

  

  Reduced material delivery times through automated replenishment control

  Through real-time data-driven production line feeding by tugger train or the digitized forklift fleet.

INTRANAV Smart Manufacturing Solution:
Real-Time Data-Driven Process Automation

How Smart Manufacturing Works With INTRANAV

• Matching
• Tracking
• SAP
• Auto-ID
• Plausibility
• Rack change
• Trigger

• Order Matching with RTLS – Generation of the Digital Twin
  
  Before a single component runs through the assembly, an order matching (systemic marrying) of the INTRANAV.RTLS TAG with the component in the SAP system must take place, so that the material flow can be tracked during the entire production process and automation processes can be triggered to the correct component. With the INTRANAV.APP “Order Matching”, an initial scan step in the Start Zone/Paring Zone systemically marries the corresponding production order (FAUF) with the TAG located on the rack. In addition, further manufacturing accompanying documents can be stored virtually in the system, enabling digital, paperless handling throughout the entire manufacturing process. This ensures process reliability throughout the entire assembly process, thus eliminating the possibility of production information being lost or accidentally mixed up.

  

• Real-time location along the production line
  
  By equipping INTRANAV.RTLS on the production line, the workers receive (±) 10 cm accurate real-time location information of all assembly steps as well as of the boxes, containers, load carriers and racks located on the assembly line, which are manually moved from cycle to cycle. This real-time information is digitized in INTRANAV.IO and sent to the SAP PP (Production Planning and Control) system via an interface. The entire production flow is completely transparent and can be tracked in real time as a Digital Twin.
  Workers can thus see in real time: which components and which material are in the respective cycle, where material replenishment may be required, whether the production steps are running synchronously or whether there are time deviations, or even to what extent delays are to be expected in individual sections.

  In the event of KPI deviations, production managers are notified immediately by alerts so that they can initiate appropriate intervention measures.

  

• Automatic (scan-free) cycle feedback on the production line: INTRANAV transmits real-time data to SAP ERP
  
  INTRANAV controls the production line by automatic feedback after each started and completed production cycle. The tracked racks on which the production pieces are located are manually pushed from cycle to cycle, each time passing through a virtual zone, whereby the cycle sequence is automatically posted as “completed” in SAP PP, so that the next cycle is informed in real-time about the status and can start with the next step. Automatic cycle feedback ensures quality standards and eliminates manual scanning within the line. Booking errors are thus eliminated so that no process step is omitted. This saves time for the workers, as manual scanning is no longer necessary. Late or early posting due to manual scanning can have critical consequences for the production line, such as excess material at the tightly scheduled storage/assembly area or idle time, which in turn leads to inefficiencies in the entire supply chain process flow. With the link to SAP PP (Production Planning and Control) and SAP EWM (Extended Warehouse Management), information can be provided at higher levels, triggering follow-up order and information processes.

  

• Elimination of scanning and booking steps
  
  By means of virtual zones, which are individually defined for each cycle via the INTRANAV.IO platform, manual scanning and booking processes are replaced by auto-bookings (auto-ID). The information is transferred to the SAP PP system via the interface. Time-consuming manual processes carried out by workers, such as scanning the barcode of the machine card in order to book operations or material, are automated on a cycle-by-cycle basis with INTRANAV. This reduces incorrect bookings and speeds up the production process, as the workers can now spend more time on value-added work.

  INTRANAV Auto-ID alone enables automatic material postings, cycle-related operation postings, plausibility checks.

  

• Sequence monitoring: Automatic (scanner-less) plausibility check of the components
  
  The real-time location data is collected within the production line using INTRANAV.RTLS TAGs, which are installed on the assembly carts. These each contain corresponding ID group addresses to tell the system which TAG is responsible for which assembly area. Thus, for the assembly trolleys (racks) of “Product A”, there is a separate numerical group for the pre-assembly of the “engine”, for example, as well as for the assembly trolleys in the main assembly line. Analogously, this also applies to production line B. Thus, each INTRANAV.RTLS TAG has its own, area-internal address. This means that the assembly units are digitally networked and can track the production orders paperlessly in all assembly branches.
  With the INTRANAV.APP “Assembly Check” the final plausibility check takes place whether the components may be assembled with each other. In two geofences, it is checked whether the individual component fits to the corresponding assembly before it goes on to the main assembly. This involves a systemic comparison in SAP. A monitor shows whether the components fit together or not.

  This important component check ensures that only matching components and groups are assembled together. This avoids particularly time-consuming and costly rework, and ensures the ongoing quality and correctness of the processing of all further production steps. Process assembly errors are avoided.

  The basis for the plausibility of pre-assembly and main assembly synchronism of cycles, cycle-related picking (large components), generation of transport orders, cycle-related option display are implemented by INTRANAV.

  

• Automatic (scanner-less) order transfer when changing the rack
  
  At a defined point in the assembly process, a rack change must be carried out for production-specific reasons. An event trigger triggers the release for the rack change via two geofences. The components are transported from one rack to a new rack. Since the racks are equipped with the INTRANAV.RTLS TAGs, an automatic transfer of the information of the FAUF from the old rack to the new rack must also take place here. The INTRANAV.APP “Rack Change” ensures the automatic transfer of the FAUF from the old to the new rack. No scanning process is necessary. The TAG of the old rack is automatically reset so that new information can be written to it. The INTRANAV.APP “Rack Change” displays “Rack change confirmed” via a monitor as soon as this process has been successfully completed.
  This process step ensures seamless transition of information transfer and secures further production tracking. Manual, erroneous and time-consuming scan-based handling is no longer necessary, and the dangers that arise from paper accompanying slips, such as the risk of confusion or loss, are completely eliminated with INTRANAV.

  

• Cycle-related automation triggers
  
  INTRANAV.IO can be used to set up additional geofences and triggers to call up production order-related information (options), as well as to start additional setup processes for fixtures, e.g. by means of a programmable logic controller (PLC).

  This includes for example:
  – Checklist call at Q-gates
  – Option display of worker information

  

Production Controlling for Result-Oriented Lean Production Planning

With the new automated processes and workflows through highly accurate real-time data, you are able to avoid bottlenecks, shortages, errors and significantly reduce search times. The generated real-time location data helps you identify optimization potential on the production line and detect weak points and waste. With an automated and intuitive database, retrograde analyses and calculations can be performed at any time. This gives you an overview of the past with the potential to minimize planning effort and production forecasting of the material flow in the future:

• KPI comparisons as a status report: dwell times, throughput time, unnecessary stops, disruptions, delays, process length.
• FLOW Status Report: The total time taken for a complete cycle, including dwell times and cycle time can be analyzed at the push of a button
• TRAIL Reports: Analyze whether your vehicle fleet follows predefined and at the same time efficient routes (e.g. for line feeding)
• HEATMAP Reports: Identify high-traffic intersections and the duration of stay of your transport vehicles and materials, as well as where traffic jams, waiting and control times are particularly frequent.
• ZONE REPORTS: Analyze, for example, which buffer zone, which production cycle was occupied and for how long, in order to optimize and adjust capacity planning. Or whether transport vehicles actually supplied the prescribed zones on the production line and how long they stayed in the areas.
• Real-Time Analytics Dashboards: By connecting to third-party providers, INTRALYTICS offers the ability to visualize your valuable INTRANAV Real-Time Location & Sensor data via an unlimited number of analytics dashboards. Use reports that meet your needs to ensure long-term optimization success for safe process operations and lean production.

Improving Material Supply at the Assembly Line through Dynamic Material Replenishment

The INTRANAV EDGE IoT Suite.
An enterprise platform that combines all RTLS competencies and technologies.

• INTRANAV.IO

  

  The Digital Twin platform manages the real-time location data generated for all assets. Basic configurations such as creating and editing geofences, rules, filters, flaggs are done directly in the platform. Live map view provides process visibility throughout the manufacturing flow. Alerts provide immediate notification of KPI deviations. Predictive maintenance in this case is mainly used for TAG management (battery life, etc.).

  ➜ Learn more about the industrial IoT RTLS platform!

   

• INTRANAV.APPs

  

  02.1 _INTRANAV.APP Order Matching

  Before a single component runs through assembly, an order matching (systemic marrying) of the INTRANAV.RTLS TAG with the component in the SAP system must take place so that the material flow can be tracked throughout the production process and automation processes can be triggered to the correct component. With the INTRANAV.APP “Order Matching”, an initial scan in the Start Zone/Paring Zone systemically marries the corresponding FAUF to the TAG located on the rack.

  ____________________

  02.2 _ INTRANAV.APP Assembly Check

  The INTRANAV.APP “Assembly Check” is used for plausibility checks of the great diversity of components in variant production. In two geofences, before moving on to the main assembly, it is checked whether the individual component fits the corresponding assembly. This involves a systemic comparison in SAP. A monitor shows whether the components match or not. This important component check ensures that only matching components and groups are assembled together. This avoids particularly time-consuming and costly rework, and ensures continuous processing of the subsequent production steps. Process assembly errors are thus avoided.
  

  ____________________

  02.3_ INTRANAV.APP Rack Change

  At a defined point in the assembly process, a rack change must be carried out for production-specific reasons. An event trigger triggers the release for the rack change via two geofences. The components are transported from one rack to a new rack. Since the racks are equipped with the INTRANAV.RTLS TAGs, an automatic transfer from the old rack to the new rack must also take place here. The INTRANAV.APP “Rack Change” ensures the automatic transfer of the FAUF from the old to the new rack. Here, no scan process is necessary. Furthermore the TAG is made automatically with the old rack an automatic reset of the information, so that this can be written again with new information. The INTRANAV.APP “Rack Change” displays “Rack change confirmed” via a monitor as soon as this process has been carried out successfully.

  ➜ Learn more about the INTRANAV.APPs !

• INTRANAV.RTLS

  

  INTRANAV.RTLS NODEs

  The INTRANAV.RTLS NODE is a Time-Difference-of-Arrival (TDoA) intelligent UWB antenna and is part of the INTRANAV.RTLS tracking infrastructure. The Node receives the signals from the INTRANAV.RTLS TAGs and calculates the positions in the backend. At least 4 NODEs are needed to calculate a 2D/3D position. The NODEs are precisely wireless synchronized and very easily scalable and virtually maintenance free. They are designed for harsh industrial environments and still have an attractive design.

  ____________________

  INTRANAV.RTLS AssetTAG Pro

  INTRANAV.RTLS AssetTAG Pro is our high performance UWB-TAG (tracker) with superior battery life, even at very high data rates. It is robust and specially designed for racks and load carriers. Thanks to the Lithium Baby-C primary cell, the AssetTAG Pro is ideal for runtimes up to 10 years at wide temperature ranges.

  ➜ Learn more about our INTRANAV.RTLS multimodal Technology

• Integration in SAP

  04.1_INTRANAV Fiori App integration into SAP PP

  Through the SAP Launch Pad tile, the necessary one-time order matching is performed before the first takt of pre-assembly begins.
  The INTRANAV Real-Time Location data is integrated into SAP through the open interface. The production orders are thus referenced in the SAP Production Planning and Control System, assigning an order to all associated assembly trucks; from pre-assembly and main assembly to loading of the machines in the plant, to staging in the yard and handover to the shipping company.
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  04.2__SAP OData interface

  The interface to OData enables the automatic posting “Component completed in cycle X” into the SAP system.

Process transparency and workflow automation
with the INTRANAV.IO Suite

• 

  INTRANAV.IO

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  Digital Solutions

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  RTLS Applications

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You want to know how you can make your processes more efficient with real-time tracking?

Our team will be happy to advise you with comprehensive know-how out of the RTLS world!