Automation Strategy for a New Production Line

Project

Merkur helped its customer, a company producing electronic components: dashboards, gas pedal levers, function buttons, RFID keys, mechanized assembly of certain components, control modules, to implement an automation strategy for their new production line. A collaboration that enabled our customer to take a technological leap forward and capitalize on its in-house automation expertise.

Challenge :

Our customer wanted to increase its part production while maintaining product quality and solve its labor issues.

Need :

Automate manual operations.

Client

Confidential

Industry

Manufacturing

Expertise used

Automation and Robotics

Operations simulation – Flexsim

" Merkur is able to simulate optimal, high-performance production islands using our FlexSim® tool. Flow and operations are optimized to meet our customer's space and cycle time objectives. "

Kévin Martinez

Robotics Project Manager - Manufacturing Project

Key results

Quality

Reduce travel and robotize processes with simulated operations

Rapidity

More flexible tooling line

Expertise

Capitalize on in-house automation expertise

Validation of a cell robotization scenario meeting customer objectives

Proposed scenario: Cells are fed by a collaborative robot, which handles the products between the various stages

Proposed 4 cells to perform welding, plasma and glue operations, handle assembly parts and perform tests

Project highlights

Develop a flexible production line, from raw material inspection to product canning

Reduce tooling costs by using existing processes and equipment
Target the production line processes where automation is most cost-effective
Improve the efficiency and ergonomics of workstations, material flows, and minimize travel
Integrate 4 new products 
Level out production peaks for different products on an annual basis: seasonally variable production

Define line automation strategy

Current process mapping
Target and analyze irritants and opportunities
Study of current line to reduce waste
Analysis of production line times: Gathering information to simulate a line
Simulate and develop 3 scenarios on FlexSim (current and future)
Validate robot and cobot cell occupancy rates
Ensure that the development can meet annual and seasonal production volumes
Enable our customer to verify several potential scenarios based on anticipated volumes

FlexSim and Methodology Strategy Automation

Collaboration has enabled our customer's employees to implement their automation more quickly.

Transfer knowledge of new Merkur technologies to our customer. Expanding into new automation technologies
Benefit from simulated capacity analysis skills without having the in-house expertise to do so
A collaboration that enabled our customer to reduce the risks and doubts involved in setting up an automation system