Department head call system | Volkswagen (Bratislava)

Location:

Lo Volkswagen plant in Bratislava is a car factory with an adjoining test track located in Bratislava, Slovakia, owned by the Volkswagen Group.

The plant produces models for the most important brands of the Volkswagen group such as Audi, Porsche, Volkswagen and Seat. More than 93% of production is exported to EU countries.

The factory and its adjoining track cover a very large area of 1,780,000 m2. 

Problem:

Volkswagen was looking for a simple system for its Bratislava plant to make its employees communicate with each other. Initially, the idea was for a system pagerbut the customer needed two-way communication.

The biggest challenge was the large area on which the plant is built, amounting to 1.780.000 m2.

plant-call-neat

Our solution:

The main functionalities solved by the systems Neat are as follows:

 

  • System for calling the department head or maintenance manager and requesting assistance for other department heads.

To meet this requirement, the components used are:

  • ATOM with LITO adapter -installed directly on machinery
  • 3PUSH - installed near the machinery to call the foremen
  • TREX - to receive messages and provide assistance between department heads
  • REPO+ to provide full coverage and communication between devices

 

  • Isolated Worker Protection System with Fall Detector

To protect isolated workers working in hazardous areas such as the press line or painting area (hazardous fumes). For this requirement, the following components were used:

  • Fall detectors - capable of detecting and transmitting the alarm signal
  • TREX - to receive messages and provide assistance between department heads
  • REPO+ to provide full coverage and communication between devices

 

  • System for monitoring machine errors using I/O modules

To receive immediate warning of important status or temporary machine fault conditions or incidents

  • IOR/INKA - to control the I/O module
  • WIOR - to process inputs and send radio signals to another device
  • TREX - to receive messages and provide assistance between department heads
  • REPO+ to provide full coverage and communication between devices

 

  • Systems to enable production line workers to report to the maintenance manager when machinery fails or stalls

In addition, the system helps workers to signal when machinery breaks down and its exact position on the production line

  • ATOM with LITO adapter -installed directly on machinery
  • 3PUSH - installed near the machinery to call the foremen
  • TREX - to receive messages and provide assistance between department heads
  • REPO+ to provide full coverage and communication between devices

Benefits of the system

With the Neat system, Volkswagen acquires a simple yet powerful system capable of meeting all of the company's demands by covering the entire plant area.

The end result was also achieved with a modest investment and a fast installation time (36 hours for each completed system).

After Neat's successful implementation, the Volkswagen Group commissioned the company to develop a project based on D-SERVERs.

  • Before installation: chaos, no exchange of information between departments, difficulty in detecting the exact location of machinery faults and consequent waste of time,...
  • Now: practical and efficient installation - fast communication between departments - rapid detection of machine faults - increased efficiency throughout the production line
  • Feedback from the customer: Constant and proven growth in plant efficiency
  • Project for a more advanced System to be implemented in the future: Optical/mechanical scanning for automatic knowledge of warehouse stocks. The D-SERVER will detect and communicate to department heads all information regarding warehouse stocks, so that managers can make decisions on whether or not to replenish resources

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