Global automaker achieves ROI in under 2 years with MAG trailer transfer solution
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The Problem:
One of the world's largest automakers faced a significant challenge at their Thailand facility: automating the
transportation of trailers, each weighing over 2 tonnes when fully loaded with car parts, to the marketplace
every 3.5
minutes.
This mission-critical operation required a reliable and efficient AMR solution, especially as it would be the
automaker's first deployment of an AMR system outside of Europe and North America. After careful evaluation,
they
approached Botsync, and we identified an AMR solution capable of meeting this demanding task.
Some production plants make use of conveyor lines for pallet
handling, mainly for moving raw material and finished goods. MAG
Pallet Conveyor allows customers to utilize their existing conveyor
setup by integrating the MAG robot fleet to automatically
load/unload pallets from conveyor lines.
Our Approach:
Our solutions team worked with the customer to identify how the AMR system could interact with the forklift
operators to
create a seamless process. We considered the following parameters for the design:
Takt time of operations and required AMR bot count: We conducted onsite time studies and
detailed
simulations to ensure
that the AMR system could meet the production requirements.
Operator <> AMR interaction: We translated the interface to Thai and designed the UI to allow
task assignment in just a few clicks
Safety of overall system: Safety of the AMR itself often doesn’t guarantee overall safety of
the process. To ensure a safe 24/7 operation, we
designed an interlock system to restrict AMR movement during loading and unloading of the trailers.
As with most complex automation projects, the capability of the software platform plays a huge role in ensuring
a
successful deployment. With SyncOS™, we were able to:
Ensure safe and optimized traffic management of the AMR fleet
Integrate the AMRs to customized interfaces, call panels, traffic lights and safety scanners to create an
intelligent
and safe solution
Provide detailed insights on performance which were used to further improve AMR cycle times
Performance and Outcome
The solution has been live for over 15 months, completing over 40,000 production trips and delivering over 1.2
million
stamping parts to the marketplace from the stamping line in that period.
As a result, the customer was able to re-allocate 1 forklift and 2 forklift operators, allowing them to achieve
an ROI
in under 2 years.
Contact us to find our more about how you could leverage AMRs in mission critical operations!
