Auto Parts Asia — October 2017

AutoPartsAsia | OCTOBER 2017 | 39

With
over 1,700
engineers working in
various locations in India, the US,
Europe, Japan and China, Satven
is poised to take Indian engineering
service industry into the league
of Automotive Consulting, and
from providing discrete services
to complete solutions. Satven is
certified for ISO 9001:2008, ISO/IEC
27001:2013, ISO 14001:2015 and BS
OHSAS 18001:2007.

Case Studies

Seat Assembly: A study
was conducted using digital
manufacturing tools with an objective
of accommodating the passenger car
seat sub-assembly next to the vehicle
mainline. The challenge was to come
up with the 3D layout concepts
considering vehicle variants and
volumes with line balance between
seat sub-assembly zone and vehicle
mainline.

The team came up with multiple
concepts of 3D factory layout after
brainstorming with the customer,
taking into consideration the future
plan for the manufacturing plant.
With virtual validation of each of the
concepts,an optimized 3D factory
layout was finalized for sub-assembly
and mainline, with optimum number
of stations, operators, and robots
for seat sub-assembly to vehicle
mainline assembly.

Even the sub-assembly zone was
well-balanced between operators and
robots, and seating assembly zone.
The optimized layout had a cycle time
well within the mainline cycle time.
With newly added sub-assembly
zone that is next to mainline, time
and cost involved in SCM were highly
reduced.

Virtual validation included simulation
of robotic assembly, collision tests,
reachability/accessibility, ergonomic
study and cycle time with line
balancing. Digital manufacturing not

only

saved the

costs and process

cycle time but also shortened the

programme launch eliminating the

number of iterations.

Another advantage is that virtually

validated robotic assembly

coordinates can be off-loaded

to robot off-line programming

(OLP). This is helpful for shop floor

programming activities.

Paint Shop: To establish an

optimized paint shop layout using

digital manufacturing, a real-time

environment of paint process was

created virtually with all the required

resources such as paint robots, paint

atomizers, skids, conveyors, ovens

and other related information.

Initial painting process was created,

during the project, for the complete

paint line and was checked for real-

time issues such as interference of

robot with plant infrastructure and

factory assets.

Based on the virtual process,

necessary changes in skid design

and the orientation of parts on

skid was finalized for process

improvement and cycle time

optimization. With the help of digital

validation, efficient and optimized

trajectory of robot was defined

which, in turn, reduced the cycle

time.

Coordinates of robot can be taken

directly for OLP. Optimized layout is

thus established for efficient process

and utilization of resource.

Making the complete paint process

‘first time right’ on the shop floor was

a major time consuming activity.With

the help of digital manufacturing

proven time was drastically

shortened, resources and costs were

also optimized in this case.

Weld

Cell Layout,

Simulation: A weld cell

layout design for body-in-white

(BIW) assembly streamlines the

process and reduces the process

cycle time with the help of digital

manufacturing process. Initial

process planning for BIW panel

assembly and concept design for

welding fixtures was developed

based on the number of panels and

stages.

Weld cell design and modelling

was developed by introducing the

concept design of fixtures, robots,

other resources and a virtual

simulation was carried out to identify

issues related to robot reachability

and collision with its coordination

tools and factory assets. Based on

the study, necessary changes were

incorporated in design or process

flow.

Satven engineers modify tools

such as geo-stations, re-spot

stations, load tables, grippers,

and gripper stands based on

the multiple iterations performed

virtually for process optimization.

Virtual validation of weld cell layout

has significantly reduced the time

for proving the design. Therefore,

robotic offline programming can

be used in the real-time shop floor

environment directly.

Satven has successfully carried out

the digital manufacturing study and

analysis for several other processes

including BIW Stamping Process,

Plastic Injection Moulding and

Assembly processes.

NB: This article is contributed by the

Digital Manufacturing Team of Satven;

views expressed are personal.