Assembly by Motion – IDA3 Worker assistance system for integrated assembly, logistics and quality control

Assembly by Motion is a unique, retrofittable worker assistance system that offers automated control of logistics, production and quality processes and combines them in one system. It is not limited to monitoring individual features of a product, but also recognizes correlations: the system aggregates the data from the camera-based monitoring of production steps and monitors the workpiece and logistics. Assembly by Motion maintains an overview of the entire process. This guarantees the requirement for a "ZERO-defect" strategy and documents quality.

Overall concept

Due to constantly increasing individualization requirements, both in the consumer sector and in industry, batch sizes in production are becoming smaller and smaller in many cases - down to batch size 1. As a result, the demands on manufacturing companies and the workers working there have increased massively and continue to rise. Work instructions are becoming more individual, more complex and often change from workpiece to workpiece. Workers are often overwhelmed by this and assembly errors are increasingly occurring, resulting in high costs if they are discovered too late.

The number of individual assembly components to be considered at the production workstation and the requirements for their replacement and replenishment have also increased dramatically: it is very often necessary to keep significantly more individual components in stock at each production workstation. This increases the risk of the wrong items being picked up and installed. For workers, this means an enormous increase in requirements and makes the use of intelligent assistance systems necessary in order to avoid the risk of incorrect installation of the wrong or completely missing components.

Assembly by Motion is a modular, easily retrofittable worker assistance system (WAS) that bundles everything it needs for its task: 2D and 3D cameras, lighting, connection cables and AI-supported, self-learning image processing. Assembly by Motion turns a simple workbench into an intelligent assembly station. The image-processing assistance system for assembly workstations guides workers step by step and safely through the assembly process. This relieves the strain on employees. They automatically receive active instructions and confirmation for each sub-step.

The fully automatic IDA3 control system uses gesture recognition and image-based quality validation, among other things. The world's first solution that combines logistics and production with automated quality control works in the background: in addition to the current workpiece status, worker movement sequences (e.g. grinding, gluing, polishing... etc.), material removal and consumption are automatically validated and recorded using camera recognition. In this way, Assembly by Motion can not only recognize WHAT has been installed, but also HOW. This means that Assembly by Motion does not have to limit itself to counting components, but also makes it possible to check and document the quality of craftsmanship and thus distinguish real quality from apparent quality.

Assembly by Motion takes automatic quality control to a new level. Assembly by Motion is already fully integrated into the market-leading SAP system. All work instructions and master data originate directly from the SAP production module. The use of costly subsystems or error-prone interfaces is completely eliminated. Only the slimline IDA3 sensor unit is visible to workers and, thanks to gesture control, the system integrates seamlessly into comfortable and familiar work processes.

Innovation strategy

With Assembly by Motion, the workstation has all the associated, relevant information - all visible at a glance. This ensures a high level of workplace ergonomics. Assembly by Motion provides everything in one retrofittable unit: Starting with the validation of component removal via intelligent assembly support and real-time quality validation. The system is also self-learning thanks to AI algorithms.

Tasks at production workstations are becoming increasingly complex and variable. That is why Assembly by Motion is pursuing the goal of combining logistics, production and automated quality control in real time for the first time in an intelligent, self-learning worker assistance system (WAS) that can be easily retrofitted to existing workstations.

The idea behind Assembly by Motion was to develop a compact, modular and self-learning worker assistance system that combines logistics, including replenishment control, with production and automated quality control and is fully integrated into the SAP system. Assembly by Motion is not limited to checking individual taught-in features of the product - it recognizes complex interrelationships. Assembly by Motion evaluates data based on camera-based monitoring of production, workpiece inspection and logistics together. Assembly by Motion thus keeps an eye on the big picture. Integration into the market-leading ERP system eliminates the need for costly subsystems, error-prone interfaces and duplicate data storage.

Functionality

Self-learning, highly integrated and easy to understand: the comprehensive worker assistance system Assembly by Motion guides and helps workers safely through the production process.

Assembly by Motion is an image-processing assistance system for assembly workstations that guides workers step-by-step through the assembly process and provides direct feedback in the event of incorrect assembly. It is controlled by gestures. An AI algorithm based on deep learning works in the background, constantly improving image recognition automatically. In practice, this involves evaluating the current workpiece status, worker movements, material removal and consumption.

The inspection is carried out fully automatically on the basis of SAP ERP specifications for required components and batches, process steps and required production-related inspections. Additional configurations can be added via the graphical and self-learning editor. Errors are reliably detected as they occur and can be rectified immediately without the need for time-consuming final checks and reworking. The worker automatically learns the assembly steps for new products with system support. New components are automatically added by the self-learning system in interaction with the worker and are recognized more and more reliably in just a few cycles using AI methods.

By integrating the SAP production and logistics modules, the product history is recorded in detail across all workstations and steps in the form of a digital twin. Assembly by Motion is a self-learning, modular and easily configurable system that is directly integrated into SAP. Only the slim, IGZ-designed sensor unit is visible to workers - equipped with different camera, sensor and lighting units, depending on the application. Assembly by Motion keeps an eye on the big picture.

Economic efficiency

Assembly by Motion ensures the success of the "ZERO defects" strategy with easy-to-understand worker guidance, proactive control mechanisms and intelligent replenishment control. This minimizes rejects, rework and complaints. At the same time, quality and customer satisfaction increase. On average, the return on investment is achieved in a maximum of 2-3 years.

The pioneering development of a modular assistance system, which is already integrated into SAP, has the potential to change the market in the long term: Assembly by Motion combines logistics and assembly in one system for the first time. This results in significantly greater benefits, which is a quantum leap for worker assistance systems. Assembly by Motion can be used wherever manual work is carried out at fixed workstations. This is particularly advantageous in combination with a logistics system that provides materials and components. Even inexperienced workers are guided safely through increasingly complex tasks.

Real-time validation of the work steps prevents errors and therefore expensive rejects. Separate or additional, cost-intensive inspection and rework stations that require human intervention are no longer necessary. In addition, direct integration into SAP eliminates the need for costly subsystems, error-prone interfaces and duplicate data storage.

Design

The Assembly by Motion sensor unit is perfectly integrated into the IGZ appearance and can be retrofitted easily and modularly. The color and shape of the cladding creates a contrast to the surroundings and "floats" above the workstations as a supportive assistance system without dominating them.

Assembly by Motion uses a flexibly adaptable sensor unit. This "floats" above the workstation as a supporting assistance system and can be easily retrofitted: A power and network connection is all that is needed. The number and type of 2D and 3D cameras for assembly validation and gesture recognition can be configured according to the exact requirements of the application. The lighting can also be flexibly adapted to the assembly requirements. Only the slim IGZ-designed sensor unit is visible to workers.

Your contact person

Talk to our experts about your tasks and expectations in production. Benefit from our many years of experience in project planning, implementation and the direct SAP connection of warehouse technology and production systems of any type and from any system provider.

Mr. Andreas Busch | Sales Manager SAP Manufacturing

sales@igz.com

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