Saar Lagertechnik solution sparks BOSCH to success
Hildesheim / Germany, September 2004. Even as early as 1886, electrical equipment pioneer Bosch had a nose for fresh new ideas. And today, this global company with sales totalling €36.4 billion and a staff of 232,000 in 2003, remains as committed as ever to innovation. A prime example of its passion for excellence is the Bosch plant at Hildesheim, where dynamic storage solutions have taken pole position in the production and assembly processes.
Three million new arrivals each year
Automotive components manufacturer Bosch supplies electrical and chassis components which can be found in virtually every part of the onboard power systems of cars. Bosch components are involved in everything from the generation and distribution to the utilisation of electrical power in vehicles. The company’s full range of electronics and software is developed, manufactured and organised in-house. This includes a new power steering system of the joint venture ZF Lenksysteme, for which Bosch Hildesheim produces over three million actuators per year.
Dynamic components in a Value Stream Design
The Bosch Production System (BPS) formed the basis for the design and implementation of the system. The aim here was to ensure streamlined production with optimum materials handling and the shortest possible through-put times. Dipl.-Ing. Alexander Farnkopf, production manager for steering drives, describes the approach deployed by Bosch: “Using various BPS modules, including those from the Value Stream Design, we were able to design a production process which exactly met our requirements.” Three Interroll-designed dynamic flow systems – which do much more than simply store goods – were integrated perfectly into the Value Stream Design, thus covering the full range of activities from goods receipt to dispatch.
Dynamic flow system facilitates production using the pull principle
The pull principle: all deliveries of components are received at two goods inwards ramps and transported by forklift to the direct delivery warehouse. This warehouse is divided into two pallet flow systems which are upstream of stator production and final assembly. After the plastic pallets have passed through, staff pick the required parts from the storage block, thereby replenishing the production units. A third storage block is located between the two production areas and is used as a reserve or buffer. This buffer is used to control production using the pull principle. The overall result is that stator production only takes place when there is a gap in the buffer caused by removals. Thus, stator production is governed entirely by final assembly.
FIFO and other good reasons
According to Alexander Farnkopf, “The uncomplicated way in which the warehouse is managed and the successful implementation of the FIFO principle were just two of the key reasons for implementing the Saar Lagertechnik flow system within the steering drive unit.” The system integrator Saar Lagertechnik GmbH was able to meet the challenge of devising a system based on streamlined design and rapid implemen-tation. Moreover, the dynamic flow systems can be deployed within a non-automated environment, which makes them the perfect choice for smaller operating units.
One type fits all
The requirements for the actual modules within the dynamic flow system posed quite a challenge. Take pallets for example: “When moving components to the assembly station, we need a certain degree of precision when it comes to pallets. This is why we had special plastic pallets manufactured,” explains Farnkopf. Saar Lagertechnik / Interroll assessed the special Bosch pallets in a series of tests and came up with a tailor-made solution that allows different types of pallet to be used in the same dynamic flow lane. Construction of the lane involved the special positioning of rollers and the deployment of speed controllers in a specific manner, thus ensuring the safe and controlled movement of goods.
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