The project introduces an innovative platform that enables the configuration of assembly plants by simplifying set-up through a user-friendly interface.
Cosberg
Cosberg, a Bergamo-based company with 70 employees, designs custom systems for the automation of assembly processes, integrating Industry 4.0 technologies and proprietary mechatronic modules.
During their life cycle, production plants, especially assembly plants, need frequent set-ups to produce different product variants. This requires changing machining cycles and setting new process parameters, acting directly in the PLC programming environment. There are two interrelated critical issues: on the one hand, the need to optimise plant downtime due to set-up activities, and on the other hand, the inevitable recourse to strong technical skills on the part of the plant manufacturer.
The project proposes an innovative solution that is not yet present in the current state of the art in assembly plant configuration: a platform that is independent of the PLC environment, through which an operator who is not necessarily an expert in programming can easily set up new machining cycles and the related process parameters, thus realising new recipes for the plant set-up. The solution encompasses several technologies, which guarantee the implementation of different plant set-up functionalities.
Edge technologies: this ensures remote management of the plant, with all the advantages that this entails and – at the same time – communication latency compatible with the cycle times involved.
HMI technology: the user interface is based on programmed dashboards for intuitive navigation and configuration.
IIoT technology for traceability: the project integrates a process traceability system, both of the bill of materials and of the operations performed, measuring and guaranteeing characteristic quality indices.
AI technologies: the project also integrates an adaptive approach to the process, i.e. the ability to calculate – through AI models and in real time – processing parameters according to the characteristics (physical and chemical) of the components to be assembled.
The project will provide a solution to make Cosberg’s assembly plants more easily configurable and adaptable to production requirements. In particular:
Plant set-up times (even in the order of 20-30%) for new production campaigns will be saved, making the operator – even if not a programming expert – completely autonomous in carrying out set-up tasks during downtimes.
Plant configurations will be carried out remotely, anywhere in the world, without necessarily contacting the plant manufacturer.
Product processes will be fully traced to ensure quality of materials and workmanship, a key strategic aspect especially in the context of certain industrial supply chains.
Intelligent adaptive processes will ensure a reduction in waste (by up to 10%).
Through the project, Cosberg will be able to consolidate its position as an innovator in the assembly plant market, considering that the proposed solution is completely new in the current panorama.
The Edge configuration will give Cosberg a significant competitive advantage, especially in an international context and highly flexible production, strategic targets for future company growth.
Process adaptability and traceability, together with the already present anomaly and consumption monitoring system, will make Cosberg’s plants highly evolved and – at the same time – sustainable, projecting them towards an extreme production model, batch one and zero defects.
