Machine builders and plant operators have one major common goal: to make manufacturing more digital and flexible. To reach this goal, the manufacturing industry relies on research institutions such as the Graz University of Technology in Austria. At the renowned university's Smart Factory testbed, everything revolves around agile and secure manufacturing solutions. We sat down with project manager Rudolf Pichler to learn how his testbed contributes to the implementation of smart factory solutions and how manufacturing companies benefit from the knowledge that is gained there.

In the Industry 4.0 solutions evaluated at the Smart Factory testbed, B&R's flexible and intelligent ACOPOStrak transport system plays a central role.

The Smart Factory officially opened in April 2021. How does a testbed factory benefit manufacturers?

Rudolf Pichler: The Smart Factory brings state-of-the-art mechanical equipment for manufacturing and assembly together with the most advanced IT products. That lets us explore new solutions for Industry 4.0 in a realistic factory environment with a focus on improving agility and data security. We also open up our Smart Factory to companies as a sort of test lab where they can do their own research on disruptive manufacturing technologies.

In other words, the Smart Factory functions like a normal industrial plant?

Pichler: Exactly. We have an end-to-end value chain and manufacture a multi-part industrial product. After manufacturing, our product is transported to various stations, such as washing, measuring and assembly. We've even integrated a test bench. The real highlight of the whole thing, though, is that we've connected the different process stations as flexibly as possible and made the entire manufacturing process extremely smart. We've been able to demonstrate, for example, how robots, machines and CNC tools can be interconnected and work in perfect harmony.

Rudolf Pichler

Project Manager - Smart Factory, Graz University of Technology

"B&R's ACOPOStrak enabled us to choose the shortest route for product transport and massively reduce the footprint of the entire system."

How did you manage that?

Pichler: As I mentioned, we have a strong focus on agility, so we needed a flexible solution for our processes. In the end, we decided to install all of our applications – like our pneumatic-electric press or robot, for example – on mobile workstations. We wanted each station to be capable of working fully autonomously and self-sufficient from an energy standpoint. And, regardless of what manufacturer they come from, all the machines are networked together. The last step was to find a way to connect the workstations and transport the product between them.

And what was the solution?

Pichler: One of our 20 industrial partners, B&R, had a really fascinating proposal: the flexible and intelligent ACOPOStrak system.

ACOPOStrak made it possible to select the shortest route for product transport and massively reduce the footprint of the entire system.

What distinguishes ACOPOStrak from conventional solutions?

Pichler: ACOPOStrak allows parts and products to be transported quickly and flexibly from station to station on independently controlled shuttles. So that answered our question of how to handle intralogistics. But, ACOPOStrak does more than just move products around. It addresses some of the most pressing concerns of modern manufacturing: the demand for smaller batch sizes and greater flexibility.

How does it do that?

Pichler: For one thing, ACOPOStrak gives you absolute freedom in terms of layout. There are a variety of straight and curved segments that you can arrange as needed. That enabled us to choose the shortest route for product transport and massively reduce the footprint of the entire system. B&R's track system also dramatically increases productivity, because you can implement high-speed diverters to divide and merge the flow of products at full speed. Fundamentally, ACOPOStrak is just an extremely flexible solution that adapts to new products very quickly. That's key for us, because it makes it easy to rearrange the workstations for a new product and connect them to the track at any time.

Are there any other B&R products used in the Smart Factory?

Pichler: We also use B&R's machine vision system and ringlight. And of course B&R PLCs – which you'll find in our gearbox test bench, for example. One of our labwork projects addresses the topic of retrofitting, and we use B&R hardware and software there as well. The B&R system is particularly helpful for integrating sensor technology from older machines into our overall system. B&R also supports the platform-independent communication protocol OPC UA. That's important, because it allows us to easily connect products from different manufacturers.

For its gearbox test bench, the Smart Factory relies on B&R's X20 PLCs.

Development of the testbed factory has been going on for several years now. What have been the biggest challenges?

Pichler: Oh, we've certainly had a lot of very interesting challenges. What was important at the beginning was to find a concept that was unique. There are other testbed factories around, and we wanted ours to stand out. That's why we set a special focus on agility and data security. And, considering the sums involved, another challenge early on was finding industry partners who were willing to invest in the project.

And after that?

Pichler: Once we had the concept and the financing figured out, the next step was finding qualified personnel to participate in our innovative endeavor. That's always a challenge for universities, but in the end we were successful. Another issue we faced was taking the myriad of ideas we had for the Smart Factory and combining them into a cohesive whole – a complete manufacturing system. To demonstrate digitalization concepts, we needed an IT network to join all the different stations. And we had a lot of different equipment speaking a variety of different languages. With put a lot of work into that, together with our industry partners, and arrived at a very good solution.

One of the Smart Factory's labwork projects addresses the topic of retrofitting and uses hardware and software from B&R.

What's your vision for the Smart Factory going forward – any concrete plans for new technology in the near future?

Pichler: Our testbed factory thrives on innovation, so it will surely continue to evolve. One thing that will remain is our core focus on agility and secure connectivity – and that focus will intensify in the future. It has always been a priority of mine to have a good mix of technologies from different manufacturers. After all, a large factory in the real world isn't all B&R components either. If I had one wish for the future, it would be for more and more companies to come take advantage of the infrastructure we've created. We're excited to host and participate in the developments that shape the future of manufacturing.

Thanks for your time!

Smart Factory – A testbed for secure, agile manufacturing solutions

On 300 m² of space, the realistic testbed factory covers all stages of the discrete manufacturing value chain, from engineering to final assembly. It demonstrates perfect coordination between modular units, integration of IT and OT, and the advantages of digitalized manufacturing – all in the form of a modern, IT-supported, batch-size-one manufacturing system with state-of-the-art data management. The Smart Factory is both an educational center and a testing environment for industrial companies.

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