Based in Stockholm, Sweden, Electrolux AB sells appliances for household and commer\u00adcial use in 150 countries around the world. With around 58,000 employees and 46 pro\u00adduction sites, the company develops and manufactures products of numerous brands: in addition to Electrolux, the top brands Grand Cuisine, AEG, Zanussi, Frigidaire and Westinghouse enjoy a particularly high reputation.<\/P><\/p>\n
In 1996, the German AEG brand was acquired from Daimler Benz, together with several divi\u00adsions and locations of the group. This is how the factory in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, founded in 1964, came to Electrolux, which today produces 600,000 stoves and 1,400,000 cooking ranges per year for the European market.<\/P><\/p>\n
\u201cWe attach great impor\u00adtance to implementing in detail the essential product characteristics of each brand in development and production<\/EM>,\u201d reports Bernd Ebert, director of Global Manufacturing Engineering \u2212 Food Preparation at Electrolux. Based in Rothenburg, Ebert ensures that all Electrolux cooking appliance factories imple\u00adment uniform processes and systems.<\/P><\/p>\n High priority for virtual factory planning<\/STRONG><\/P> As part of a comprehensive digitalization strategy covering all areas, 11 digital manu\u00adfacturing projects are on the agenda of the Swedish global corporation. Ebert has assumed responsibility for two global proj\u00adects with the highest priority. They aim to create \u201cdigital twins\u201d of all manufacturing sites: In the virtual manufacturing project, an advanced planning tool was selected and introduced for early design verification to develop products that are production- and assembly-friendly. For example, assembly sequences and movements will be planned and optimized three-dimensionally to pre\u00advent collisions. The prerequisite for this is the development of three-dimensional fac\u00adtory layouts, which is the focus of the sec\u00adond project, 3D factory layout. The layouts will be created using a standard factory planning tool that can simulate both the plant and the material flow on the basis of 2D data in order to optimize capacity and efficiency.<\/P><\/p>\n Global platform for digital manufacturing<\/STRONG><\/P> Software selection began in 2014, when only a few had powerful software for 3D factory planning. A small, specialist team led by Ebert worked closely with the company\u2019s IT department in Stockholm. Starting in 2015, Teamcenter from Siemens PLM Software was deployed there as a strategi\u00adcally important product development plat\u00adform for product lifecycle management (PLM) at Electrolux. Discussions about Siemens\u2019 future strategy led to an offer to test a pre-release version of the 3D layout software Line Designer in an early adopter program.<\/P><\/p>\n Siemens was given the opportunity to use original data to build a showcase demon\u00adstrating the performance of the software on real problems. As a result, Line Designer was selected in conjunction with solutions in the Tecnomatix\u00ae portfolio, including the Process Simulate solution.<\/P><\/p>\n The main reasons for this decision were the advantages of a tight Teamcenter integra\u00adtion of these solutions: \u201cWe can save all resources created with Line Designer as libraries in Teamcenter, manage them and make them available to all users worldwide,\u201d explains Ebert. \u201cThis way we preserve an entire infrastructure of software and hard\u00adware including training material and can build on the existing users\u00b4 experience with Teamcenter.\u201d<\/EM> The expected results were a close alliance for product development and a global, common platform for factory plan\u00adning and material flow optimization.<\/P><\/p>\n Roll-out strategy after pilot project<\/STRONG><\/P> In a pilot project carried out in Rothenburg in 2016, employees received training by Siemens and developed, among other things, a new assembly line and automated housing assembly with Line Designer. Ergonomics studies were carried out with Process Simulate and cycle times were suc\u00adcessfully optimized using simulations. \u201cThe Tecnomatix<\/A> and Teamcenter<\/A> solutions have proven themselves in the best way,\u201d reports Ebert as project manager. \u201cAt the same time, we have gained valuable experience for a worldwide deployment.\u201d<\/EM><\/P><\/p>\n The core team has now trained specialists for each of the three software solutions, who can provide advice and support to the decentralized employees at the locations. The system areas created with Line Designer, such as conveyors and lifts, or models of material transport trolleys and other devices, can be parameterized. \u201cBy making the 3D models and scenarios avail\u00adable worldwide, we save lots of work,\u201d reports Ebert. \u201cAfter adjusting the parame\u00adters, they are simply re-used elsewhere. This brings us almost automatically closer to the desired standardization of processes and systems across the product lines \u2212 cooking, washing and dishwashing, drying and cooling\/freezing \u2212 as well as the sectors USA, South America, Asia\/Pacific and Europe.\u201d<\/EM><\/P><\/p>\n \u201cBased on the experience gained from the pilot project, the worldwide rollout has now been carried out in waves, each of which includes the intensive training and familiar\u00adization of the employees at one location,\u201d says Ebert. \u201cIn order to secure our major projects, we initially selected four locations with high investment volumes.\u201d<\/EM><\/P><\/p>\n Project Anderson, South Carolina <\/STRONG><\/P> One location involves the complete con\u00adstruction of a new refrigerator factory in Anderson, South Carolina, in which refriger\u00adator production is to be concentrated on the American continent by mid-2019. There, a higher degree of automation should save around 30 percent of human labor. Many processes were planned with Tecnomatix in order to develop a new auto\u00admation concept, to plan the factory cor\u00adrectly at the first attempt and to secure the immense investment.<\/P><\/p>\n A very time-consuming production area is the plant for foaming the refrigerator walls with hardening. All areas before and after are based on the process times there. In order to design this bottleneck correctly at the first attempt, the process was mapped and simulated as a one-piece flow. \u201cA lot of details had to be taken into account, such as different materials and different models,\u201d says Ebert. \u201cTo depict all this was very time-consuming, but it was worth it.\u201d<\/EM> The accu\u00adrate results of Plant Simulation eliminate the need for large buffers, saving approximately $2,000,000 by having one conveyor and one high-bay warehouse for 5,000 refrigerators.<\/P><\/p>\n After foaming, the assembly processes branch to four lines. Here, the train routes of the material flows were planned, simu\u00adlated and optimized with all purchased parts of the parts lists for 30 models of the modu\u00adlar product design that go from the truck to the assembly lines. \u201cAn employee of Siemens has laid the foundations for the train routes. But in the meantime, our mate\u00adrial flow is improved daily by our own employee \u2212 we have already achieved our effectiveness targets.\u201d<\/EM><\/P><\/p>\n With Process Simulate, the employees also planned robot cells that would take over some of the previously manual processes. \u201cEven if the cells are not yet completely detailed, we can decide with a high degree of certainty whether we need one or three robots,\u201d<\/EM> says Ebert. The high planning reli\u00adability is conveyed to the management in 3D scenarios and videos.<\/P><\/p>\n \u201cA big investment requires a lot of persua\u00adsiveness,<\/EM>\u201d Ebert asserts. \u201cWith the good visu\u00adalization possibilities of Tecnomatix, I can show the management an early stage of planning that makes the processes plausible. The 3D technology helps with the verifica\u00adtion of assembly concepts as well as with the selection of suppliers for automation solutions and provides insights that I didn\u2019t have before.\u201d<\/EM><\/P><\/p>\n Worldwide deployment concept<\/STRONG><\/P> The first projects have proved that Tecnomatix and Teamcenter tools can be used to solve tasks and achieve goals. However, the employees deal with the pow\u00aderful tools regularly. \u201cWe need specialists to take on new roles in our global team,\u201d Ebert says. \u201cFor successful standardization, every topic must be described centrally.\u201d<\/EM> Further major projects are now also pending in Europe.<\/P><\/p>\n \u201cThe factory is too expensive to use as an experimental field,<\/EM>\u201d Ebert says, referring to Professor Dr. Hans-J\u00fcrgen Warnecke, a well-known scientist and former president of the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft in Germany. \u201cTo test new concepts, there are efficient simu\u00adlation tools that make production downtime superfluous.\u201d<\/EM><\/P><\/p>\n Electrolux creates uniform, efficient manufacturing processes and systems with Tecnomatix and Teamcenter <\/p>\n Based in Stockholm, Sweden, Electrolux AB sells appliances for household a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51290,"featured_media":203,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spanish_translation":"","french_translation":"","german_translation":"","italian_translation":"","polish_translation":"","japanese_translation":"","chinese_translation":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[6],"industry":[],"product":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-process-simulation"],"featured_image_url":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/09\/Electrolux2-2.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/tecnomatix\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/tecnomatix\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/tecnomatix\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/tecnomatix\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51290"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/tecnomatix\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/tecnomatix\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":204,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/tecnomatix\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196\/revisions\/204"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/tecnomatix\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/tecnomatix\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/tecnomatix\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/tecnomatix\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/tecnomatix\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=196"},{"taxonomy":"product","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/tecnomatix\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product?post=196"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/tecnomatix\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Electrolux1.png\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/09\/Electrolux1-2.png\" "\\"Electrolux1.png\\"")
The factory is too expensive to use as an experimental field. To test new concepts, there are efficient simulation tools that make production downtime superfluous.\u201d Bernd Ebert Director of Global Manufacturing Engineering \u2212 Food Preparation Electrolux<\/span><\/span><\/P>
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\n![\"Electrolux2.png\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/09\/Electrolux2-2.png\" "\\"Electrolux2.png\\"")
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