The Graben-Neudorf showcase factory

Routes (simulation and reality)

The option of being able to simulate new production processes in advance has the advantage of cutting startup times significantly. Routes can be tested and optimized at this stage and then transferred from the virtual to the real world at the click of a button.

Logistics assistents (material supply)

In SEW-EURODRIVE's showcase factory, various specially developed mobile assistance systems connect the individual work processes involved in gear unit assembly. The logistics assistants supply the assembly islands with the correct mount-on components at precisely the right time

Logistics assistents (on the route)

They can carry up to 1.5 metric tons and navigate independently in the room.

Assembly assistants (cyberphysical systems)

The assembly assistants support the mechanics in their work. In the philosophy of Industry 4.0, they become a cyberphysical system and thus carry all the product- and customer-related information with them.

Assembly assistants (employees support)

The assembly assistants and the adapted and integrated manufacturing processes support the employees in their work

Logistics assistents (further transport of finished products)

Another family of assistants connects the other work steps in the showcase factory. The assistants transport the finished gearmotors out of assembly to the oil-filling and testing stations and then on to the paintshop.

Mobile handling assistant

There are also fields of application for assistance systems in production. For example, SEW-EURODRIVE is testing a mobile handling assistant. This takes over monotonous jobs in machine assembly and thus lightens the workload of the operator.

Industry 4.0 is changing the role of humans in the overall processes. New areas of work are being created in which the processes in the showcase factory flow together. As the architect of the value creation chain, tasks increasingly consist of controlling, monitoring and optimizing processes. Employees are then not so much assistants to the system but the key architects who interconnect the various individual steps as required. However, lightening the load for production employees in this way certainly does not mean that people become surplus to requirements or can even be rationalized away. Instead, workers simply operate on a redefined level.