Factory of the Unique
Reading time: approx. 15 min.Factory of the UniqueThe industry of the future is capable of more than mass production from the conveyor belt. Like craft production, it can react to trends and customer requirements at a moment’s notice, because the digitized factory is intelligent, networked and agile. Pioneers such as Porsche are already producing unique pieces in series today. This could mean that, in the future, batch size 1 production will be a benchmark for smart manufacturing – a lighthouse in an ocean of data.
CHAPTER 1 – A look into the future
CHAPTER 2 – Quest for customization
CHAPTER 3 – In practice at Porsche
CHAPTER 4 – The “pearl chain” principle
CHAPTER 5 – The fishbone principle
CHAPTER 6 – Returning to Europe
CHAPTER 7 – High speed with Adidas
CHAPTER 8 – The measurement suit
CHAPTER 9 – Where next for the smart factory?
CHAPTER 2 – Quest for customization
CHAPTER 3 – In practice at Porsche
CHAPTER 4 – The “pearl chain” principle
CHAPTER 5 – The fishbone principle
CHAPTER 6 – Returning to Europe
CHAPTER 7 – High speed with Adidas
CHAPTER 8 – The measurement suit
CHAPTER 9 – Where next for the smart factory?
Smart factory as a Service – a look into the future
Smart factory as a Service – a look into the futureThe future begins in eastern Munich, at Atelierstrasse 14. In a dynamic factory quarter where the company Pfanni peeled potatoes for decades, startups, bars and cultural hotspots are now gathering. The white-blue sky is reflected in the windows of the orange plant “Werk 3.” Since June 2018, something new has been available on the first floor of the commercial tower block: SFaaS – SmartFactory as a Service. A startup from Augsburg-based robot specialists KUKA, the reinsurance company Munich Re and consulting firm MHP, SFaaS was conceived to show others how far the development and production of batches as small as a single item have already come.
The fully automatic industrial unit is installed between six-foot-tall panes of glass: Five orange handling robots, a laser unit and an industrial printer – together they make up far more than just a modeling system. When you place a grey cardboard panel at the entrance shaft and press the start button, within a quarter of an hour the smart factory has printed, cut, glued and finally packaged four different puzzle sets from four cellphone photos in colorful wrappers. The production of tomorrow can already be experienced in person today.“Our demonstration installation proves that batch size 1 production with industrial robots is no longer a problem for technology,” says Rudolf Schmid, Senior Manager at MHP.
The work steps involved in the puzzle-set example symbolize the core industrial processes: The linear unit for logistics, the printer for surface coatings, the laser for shaping and chipping production, and the gluing unit for assembly.
But that is only part of the story. More than anything, SFaaS stands for a holistic, digital approach – from the initial product idea through to its marketing and financial security. The three participating partners want to digitize the entire value chain so that a continuous flow of data and previously unconnected areas of production development flow seamlessly into each other.
Dr. Markus Junginger, Associated Partner at MHP and one of the fathers of SFaaS, describes the starting point of the innovative idea clearly: On the one hand, customers were demanding an ever-increasing level of customization for their vehicles, even including elements they created themselves. On the other hand, they wanted to receive their new cars more and more quickly. At the same time, Junginger explains, the development time for new cars in Germany had risen to at least 56 months, but decreased significantly for the large players in Japan. “SFaaS is now in a position to be able to significantly reduce the product development process through integrated data and risk management,” says Junginger. As a result, the time to market for new products can be shortened by up to 30 percent. It is no longer possible to achieve an acceleration of this scale at the production stage alone, only across the entire value chain
“Above all, individual mass production using the tools of series production means continuity across data, processes and organizations,” Jungender emphazises. “SFaaS is a prime example of this.”In the future, it will also be possible to use the Munich-based system for practical applications. The Porsche Group has already commissioned the production of small 3D models of a 911 Porsche. The three founders of SFaaS are already thinking about larger-scale facilities for the next few years. According to Junginger, interested companies have been invited to be part of the network and to help shape the development of the future.
Quest for customization
Quest for customizationThe Munich SFaaS model factory represents a paradigm shift in the industry: Until now, undifferentiated mass production has shaped the global economic markets. Individual configurations are already the standard only in the case of goods with longer life cycles, such as machinery, cars or kitchens. However, since more and more products are being ordered digitally, and since an increasing number of machines can be controlled digitally, flexible production has started to reach consumer areas with faster turnarounds such as fashion, shoes and beds.
“People’s quest for customization has reached the mass market,”says Professor Frank Piller, an expert in mass customization at RWTH Aachen University, Germany. Networked factories have now made batches as small as a single item technically and financially possible. Using this technology, adidas is producing customizable footwear with its “Speedfactories,” and the ZOZO fashion platform is selling clothing tailored to customers’ own body measurements. The wave of customization is already considered an important economic factor and a new sales driver. “Anyone who doesn’t adapt to smaller batch sizes will disappear from the market,” predicts Robin Exner from the Mittelstand 4.0 competence center, an initiative of the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (Bundeswirtschaftsministerium).
Unique pieces in series – in practice at Porsche
Unique pieces in series – in practice at PorscheFor a long time now, the demand for smart customization has not been a future issue for the Porsche Group but rather a part of everyday life. In the huge Porsche plant in Leipzig alone, up to 140,000 brand new Macan and Panamera vehicles are produced every year.
Before/after view
And each one is unique. Worth an on-site visit.The car bodies glide gently through the workshop on mobile wooden platforms: The unclad car frames roll by in black, gray, blue, white, red. At nearly 200 cycle stations, workers in small teams install individual parts one after the other: panoramic roofs, wiring harnesses, fittings, leather seats, engines, brakes, tires – until finished sports cars roll out of the hall; more than 600 a day.
Before/after view
With two-minute cycles, the Porsche vehicles move along the production line at a rather moderate speed. But the demands of quality and variance make this speed necessary: According to the Group’s calculations, more than two trillion different variations are possible with the premium car manufacturer’s car configurator. And customers make full use of it: Hardly a single Porsche looks like the one that came before it on the line. “We produce unique pieces in series,” stresses David Jakob, Director of Production Control. “With only a few exceptions, Porsche exclusively builds vehicles according to individual customer requests – but all on the same production line.”How is that possible?
Before/after view
The tailored production process begins with an order at a Porsche Customer Center. Each car is configured there individually and is consequently one of a kind: “This is unique to the Porsche brand,” emphasizes Jakob. The vehicle ordered is immediately recorded in the production IT infrastructure for manufacture. The system reserves a production slot at the Leipzig plant online for the ordered Porsche. “Within seconds, production and delivery capacities are assigned to the job, and a precise delivery date is calculated,” says Jacob. “In addition to quality, this delivery promise is one of our most important goods.” To ensure process security, sales, production and procurement are constantly coordinating which orders will leave the plant over the next few weeks. “This handshake is extremely important,” says Jakob.
Production according to the “pearl chain” principle
Before/after view
Production according to the “pearl chain” principleTo ensure an efficient, fast, yet tailored production process, Porsche relies on the “pearl chain” principle: All vehicles are produced on a single conveyer belt. “Thanks to our highly qualified employees, the principal functions flawlessly,” says Jakob. The plant processes approximately 600 vehicles in day cycles. Within these cycles, the sequence is optimized for cost, resources, the environment and timing.
Before/after view
Today’s robots and machines have long been able to implement a wide range of work steps because all of the required variations are pre-programmed. If it is necessary to implement a variety of tasks during the same work cycle – such as the sliding roof of the small Macan and the huge panoramic roof of the Panamera – two different systems are installed next to each other. The machines are controlled digitally and automatically via the shop floor IT system: The robot receives information about the sequence in which components should be installed from the vehicle order via the production data platform of the factory’s central IT system, which is involved in every production step – from manufacture of the body and assembly, right through to logistics. The order is broken down into individual steps and translated for the machine. In any case, all vehicles move through the plant transparently with body tracking, enabling the plant AI to control processes and react immediately in the event of problems.It is precisely this high level of flexibility that allows customers to remain selective for a long time: Customers can continue to change their desired equipment up until about ten days before the production deadline.
Assembly according to the fishbone principle
Assembly according to the fishbone principleAt the same time, Porsche’s demand and capacity management ensures that the approximately 800 suppliers are in sync with the Leipzig plant. The “pearl chain” principle reaches out from Leipzig to all over Europe.
“The same order sequence that is depicted here in the plant is reflected to our suppliers everywhere from Portugal to the Ukraine,”explains Fabian Troll, Director of Vehicle Control. All relevant suppliers receive a preview ten days prior to the start of production. Suppliers from the surrounding plant environment also receive an update about the actual production sequence four hours before the start of production. The components are retrieved from “supermarkets” in the plant on demand. In these supermarkets, materials are picked for the production line using a “Pick-by-Light” system. Order pickers are directed to the picking bins and informed about the required items and quantities by means of lights and displays. Synchronized tugger trains take the items to exactly where they are required on the production line according to the fishbone principle so the pickers’ colleagues can install the individual variant in the cycle: “Just in time, just in sequence.” In the paperless factory, workers are kept up to speed via touch screens at the assembly stations. For now. In the future, they will receive essential information about vehicle assembly and be able to communicate with the factory IT system in real time at the touch of a button using smart watches. After all, each Porsche is unique.
Returning to Europe
Returning to EuropeAachen-based innovation researcher Frank Piller is well versed in intertwining individual customer requests with mass production. He knows where the development has come from and where the path is leading: “Batch size 1 production is basically nothing new,” says Piller. “It has dominated German mechanical engineering for decades, it is its raison d’être.”
Even the trend toward personalization of products has been noticeable for 20 years – from the made-to-measure shirts available from numerous online clothing manufacturers or customizable T-shirt printer Spreadshirt, to the muesli mixes available at the click of a button from mymuesli in Passau. The website www.configurator-database.com counts internationally more than 1200 websites on which customers can configure products – everything from trailer tents and dirndls to slatted frames and yachts. It is generally startups that scale up their tailored production rather than big corporations that scale down their mass production, says Piller. Indeed, many large companies have undertaken pilot projects for small batch production that have ultimately failed. According to Piller, the real innovation in this recent development is the mass production of consumer goods returning to Germany. “Until recently, customization was mainly only possible for cheap providers in Asia,” says Piller. “But the logistics costs and delivery times were much higher.” With digitalization and automation, production is now making a comeback in Europe.
Especially in proximity to sales markets, both sides experience a significant benefit, Piller explains: Instead of production taking place in a central, remote factory, today it is possible for decentralized, digital factories to operate close to the customer. Leading sporting goods manufacturers Nike and adidas have been long been demonstrating this approach. “Production techniques have changed and made significant simplification possible,” says Piller. In the past, manufacturing shoes required lasts and approximately 36 work steps – today, there are just three steps. “With tool-free production, sneakers are knitted in 3D.” “Store factories” produce the garments even closer to the customer and more quickly, right in the store.
High speed with Adidas
High speed with AdidasThe adidas speed factories in Ansbach and Atlanta in particular are currently making people sit up and take notice: Highly flexible shoe factories that use state-of-the art manufacturing technologies to produce shoes in just a few hours – they are made in Germany and were awarded with the German Innovation Award in 2018.
Last fall the “AM4” (“adidas made for...”) series of running shoes was introduced as the first major project: Individually designed, but digitally and automatically manufactured sports shoes. The series is developed together with athletes and tailored to the needs and desires of runners. The London, New York, Los Angeles and Shanghai models are currently available and more will follow. The limited editions do however cost 200 euro a pair.
Production units in the speed factories produce the sole and the upper, and take care of assembly. “We are building the shoe layer by layer, only adding material that is absolutely necessary,” says Mandy Nieber, adidas spokesperson. “As a result, we can produce shoes more efficiently, reduce the use of resources and avoid waste.” In addition, speed factories allow the direct transfer of design data to production machines. 160 people are employed at each of the two speed factories.But all this is only an intermediate step. The vision that adidas is driving is fast and flexible production close to the customer, as well as the chance to be able to offer tailor-made shoes to athletes in the future. For a new series, it will even be possible to tailor every point of a midsole to the physiological data and the needs of the athlete. Digital light synthesis is the centerpiece of the innovation.
This entails shaping the midsole of the “Futurecraft 4D” series of running shoes from a liquid synthetic resin using light and oxygen. With this innovative procedure, adidas is already intending to do away with 3D printing and elevate additive manufacturing to a new level, according to the Group. For the time being, “Futurecraft 4D” will still be shaped on the basis of data gathered from athletes over a period of 17 years. The first 100,000 pairs will be produced by the end of 2018.“In the long term, this technology will make it possible to offer tailor-made running shoes to every athlete,” says spokeswoman Nieber.
Working with adidas to provide the digital light synthesis technology is tech company Carbon from Silicon Valley. Co-founder and CEO Joseph DeSimone explains the scale of the new technology:“For eons the manufacturing process has followed the same four steps – design, prototype, tool, produce. Carbon has changed that; we’ve broken the cycle and are making it possible to go directly from design to production.” This could provide a new foundation for batch size 1 production.
The measurement suit: A new way to measure customers
The measurement suit: A new way to measure customersThe future comes with parcel service. It delivers a big soft envelope. Inside: A full body suit, thin as pantyhose, pitch black and peppered all over with 300 white measuring points.
The “measurement suit” is the latest thing from Japanese fashion shipping giant ZOZO. It has abolished standardized sizes and instead delivers tailored T-shirts and jeans. ZOZO has been active in the European market since the end of August. When you order from ZOZO, the first thing you receive is a measurement suit. You slip on the close-fitting trousers and shirt, download the app to your smartphone, build a small cardboard stand and position yourself in front of your cellphone’s camera. In twelve steps, you turn in place until all measuring points have been photographed. At the end of the process, you receive a precise 360-degree image of your body with all limbs – and are ready to place your order to fit. The offering should guarantee the perfect fit for customers who don’t correspond to the standard proportions of the fashion industry.
ZOZO’s slogan: “We make clothes in one size: Yours.”This slogan isn’t just a marketing ploy, but a new production philosophy: ZOZO produces its thousands of different, specifically tailored measurement combinations made to fit innumerable different body shapes in China and is steadily increasing its range. The products for Europe are then stored, ready to go, in a warehouse near Berlin. If a customer’s proportions do not match the prefabricated garments, then the order is made to measure. Delivery takes two to three weeks. A pair of jeans costs just 59 euro, T-shirts start from 22 euro.
ZOZO was not launched by a few daring startup founders, but by a man who thoroughly understands the business: billionaire Japanese entrepreneur, art collector and former punk rocker Yusaku Maezawa, 42. In the form of ZOZOTOWN, its parent company “START TODAY” operates Japan’s most popular online fashion platform, making two billion euro in sales and has been listed on the stock exchange since 2007. By his own admission, Maezawa now wants to do something that goes against the “dictates of clothing sizes” – because the fashion industry implies that customers are too fat, too thin, too short, too tall, that their arms are too long, or their hips too broad.The old measurements have their basis in history: Clothing sizes for mass production were introduced along with the advent of craft production in the 18th century. Since then, fashion brands have produced their collections using the measurements of body models as supposed “normal” proportions. It’s time for a change.
Where next for the smart factory?
Where next for the smart factory?The new and the technically feasible always raise new, exciting questions. For example: To what extent are products produced using batch size 1 production licensed and approved? Who is responsible for the tailored, unique products? And in which areas do customers actually want an almost unlimited range?
For Professor Frank Piller, this much is clear: Traditional mass production will persist for the long term in some sectors. However, in many markets, there will soon be no alternative but to offer customers customizable products. Piller believes that anything that offers genuine added value with mass customization will eventually prevail.At the same time, completely new options are already in the pipeline: Will assembly line production be replaced in the future by automatic modular assembly using driverless transport systems, as Audi is already testing? What chance does 3D printing have, even with metal, when skill centers for additive manufacturing are already springing up in different industries? Will there soon be neighborhood shops where customers simply print out products they have configured online?
One thing is clear: Batch size 1 production offers many opportunities for the future – and the SFaaS in the bustling Munich factory quarter already offers a preview of what will be technologically feasible in the industry in the future.
Porsche Car Configurator
Porsche lives uniqueness - with the in-house Car Configurator.
Adidas speedfactory
Speedfactory is pioneering manufacturing technology that turns digital athlete data into shoes. The result: performance footware that is precisely tailored to the athlete.
SFaaS
MHP, KUKA and Munich Re are cooperating for the first time to combine their core competencies of software integration, automation technology, systems engineering as well as risk and financial management.
Text:
Sven Heitkamp
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Factory of the Unique
Smart factory as a Service – a look into the future
Quest for customization
Unique pieces in series – in practice at Porsche
Production according to the “pearl chain” principle
Assembly according to the fishbone principle
Returning to Europe
High speed with Adidas
The measurement suit: A new way to measure customers
Where next for the smart factory?
Mehr zum Thema:
Factory of the Unique
Smart factory as a Service – a look into the future
Quest for customization
Unique pieces in series – in practice at Porsche
Production according to the “pearl chain” principle
Assembly according to the fishbone principle
Returning to Europe
High speed with Adidas
The measurement suit: A new way to measure customers
Where next for the smart factory?
Mehr zum Thema:
