The Internet of Things (IoT) has arrived once and for all to add more intelligence, efficiency, real-time control of inventory and increase logistics management and production in the automotive sector. These are the results of the pioneering project, which brought together the companies Sawluz Informática and Taggen Soluções IoT, and was implemented at the Faurecia PCMA (FMM) plant, located in the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA Group) supplier park, in Goiana (PE) , at the Jeep Nordeste plant.
The basis of the project is formed by beacons (small real-time identification and location devices), which send signals via bluetooth to gateways that communicate with Taggen's Link IOT service platform, all supported by the SW Stock cloud software, module of the new SawluzNet, a system focused on the internet of things. All Taggen and Sawluz solutions, created according to the best software development practices for the cloud, can run on Microsoft Azure and AWS - Amazon Web Service environments.
Industrial automation
In a first step, TaggenBeacons were installed in around 400 racks, in which the parts, such as front instrument panels, door panels, airfoils and bumpers, that circulate between the FMM production line, are placed. safety stock and transportation to the car assembly plant.
The first and only moment of manual activity in this process occurs when the operator uses the smartphone with an application, available for either Android or iOS, to associate the parts with the respective transport and storage rack. After that, the entire process is fully automated, without any other human interaction, using readers or filling out spreadsheets - whoever looks at it from outside, has no idea that inventory control occurs automatically, while racks are carried by forklifts.
Thus, FMM has an extremely versatile automation system, as managers know exactly where the rack is and what parts are in it, being able to generate a wide range of dashboards, reports with KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and make control and traceability of movements in real time with receipt of warnings in case of errors in the movement of the racks, if they exceed the "electronic fence" of the monitoring carried out from the signal emitted by the beacons, which is received by the Taggen gateways. In addition, the system issues safety stock alerts by parameterizing the minimum and maximum quantities defined for each type of part in stock.
With 100% reliability
Wagner Oliveira, South America Regional CIO of FMM, clarifies that the safety stock pieces are critical for the company to guarantee the supply to the FCA Group - Jeep Nordeste, in case of any problem in the production line. "We implemented, along with Taggen and Sawluz, an automatic and instantaneous control through IoT technology and running in the cloud, reducing the manual intervention of our operators and increasing the efficiency in the process. We need to have an accuracy between the information presented in our ERP with what physically exists in the 100% factory. We have reached a level of excellence, after just over three months of the new IoT system in operation at the Goiana plant ", said the executive.
The positive assessment is shared by Watila Castro, Plant Manager FMM, when informing that the implementation of the IoT project, together with internal IT and the companies Sawluz and Taggen, meets a need of the plant to obtain speed and accuracy in real time safety stock levels, allowing better visibility of risks to the customer, as well as the definition of stock recovery strategies. "In addition to this, the project allows us to have a FIFO control (First In First Out) and also the control of the renewal / turnover time, which is currently parameterized for every three months", he adds.
Tulio Polonio, Sawluz's Digital Transformation manager, informs that the SW Stock module, of the new SawluzNet, was developed to meet the demands of Digital Transformation and Industry 4.0, which require more agility in the manufacturing environment and synchronization with the other administrative areas. "It was a challenging and very learning project, as we listened to the needs of FMM, which was already our client in other services, to implement the partnership with Taggen, which entered with the beacons, gateways and the platform service in the cloud Link IoT, running on Azure, which communicates with SW Stock, running on the AWS cloud. We go deeper into the information flow, security guidelines and customer data management. We have exceptional support from the local FMM team ", reports.
Project already under expansion
Due to the success achieved in the monitoring of racks and parts, FMM has already started the second stage of installing the system, which is expected to reach 2000 racks, hundreds of types of items circulating in the factory and thousands of part numbers. Studies are underway to add artificial intelligence and visual recognition to the project, new technologies that integrate the advanced concept of Industry 4.0.
Wagner Oliveira, South America Regional CIO of FMM, explains that the main focus of the project at FMM was to improve the information on the inventory of all parts of the safety stock in order to guarantee the reliability of the data and increase the control over the data. racks, important plant assets. "Factory floor personnel are already identifying other opportunities for using the technology and suggesting automation of new processes", he highlights.
"There are other needs of the plant for automation of processes via IOT. At the moment, we are in the process of implementing 100% of the safety stock items and, in parallel, we are studying the extension of this project to control the forklifts and derivatives at the factory, with the purpose of optimizing and adapting the movement flow. I affirm that it is possible to make a better management of the factory with the help of technology ", reports Watila Castro, Plant Manager FMM.
"The project has been a success and we are also evaluating the use of other TaggenBeacons models, such as beacons with temperature and light sensors, and beacons-badges, which are used to analyze the movement and performance of employees", explains Sergio Passaretti , Taggen commercial manager. TaggenBeacon is manufactured in Brazil and features national 100% technology. The selected model comes equipped with a long battery life, whose useful life varies according to the broadcast configuration of the network.
Werter Padilha, CEO of Taggen and Sawluz, member of the new Chamber of Industry 4.0 of MCTIC and of the Ministry of Economy and member of the council that worked on the development of the National IoT Plan, highlights that "the internet of things brings together different technologies and applications , being strategic in the business of the digital economy, in search of more productivity, reduction of losses and efficiency gains, among other benefits.The FMM project presents fantastic results and with ROI (return on investment) proven by the client and above expectations. Initiatives like this are fundamental to show the return of IoT in practice ".
Digital transformation in the automotive industry
The implementation of this IoT system for Industry 4.0 is in line with the general goals of the Faurecia Group, which has a global Digital Transformation project for all the company's factories, R&D and offices around the world, seeking digital transformation not only in the business environment. shop floor, but throughout the company, including administrative and product areas.
In Brazil, a survey carried out by the CESAR Institute, released in August 2019, points out that about two thirds of the companies in the automotive sector (65.70%) believe that they are far or, worse, very far from Digital Transformation. Only 37,36% of companies are doing anything to deal with this situation. Most have not yet initiated actions or are still preparing - some companies even believe that Digital Transformation is not a priority or that it will not impact their business. The CESAR survey, center of innovation, education and entrepreneurship was carried out in partnership with the Automotive Business Magazine between the months of April and June 2019 and covered 138 companies in the automotive sector across the country.
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