Location system shows position of new cars at the assembly plant

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December 2002 Data Acquisition & Telemetry

Siemens Automation and Drives (A&D) has equipped the BMW Dingolfing plant with an innovative vehicle location system. In this pilot project, Sicalis RTL (realtime locating) uses the identification system Moby R to find the right car among the approximately 1300 vehicles leaving the line at the Dingolfing plant each day, thus playing an important role in reducing production times.

Around 280 000 vehicles from the BMW 3, 5 and 7-series leave the factory at Dingolfing each year. A total of 3000 parking spaces for new cars are distributed among eight different-sized lots at the north end of the assembly halls on the 1,8 million square metre premises of the factory. The vehicle location system Sicalis RTL automatically monitors every vehicle movement and tracks its current parked position. This is achieved through radio antennas distributed around the plant grounds. All the vehicles leaving the assembly line and being prepped for delivery are given a data carrier which is attached to the inside rear-view mirror with a special hanger. The Moby-R data carrier transmits its ID number, enabling the vehicles to be quickly located, within approximately five metres.

Although each new car in Dingolfing was assigned a specific location when leaving the assembly hall in the past, some of the vehicles often ended up in other places. Consequently, employees sometimes had to go looking for the right car on the factory grounds. To avoid this problem, BMW needed a system for precisely locating the vehicles. Searching for cars is unnecessary with Sicalis RTL. If BMW's Assembly Finish System - also known as MOFI - calls up a vehicle for finishing, an employee can find its location in realtime on the intranet via a Web browser. The car's location is graphically displayed on a plant layout. The employee can then go directly to the parked car and prep it for delivery.

Thanks to these features, Sicalis RTL speeds up the production of vehicles, cuts down on search time and saves costs. With the location system by Siemens, BMW can streamline its production process even further, from customer ordering to delivery of the new car. When compared to satellite-supported systems, Moby R is both more precise and less costly. Another advantage is that the vehicles can also be located in production halls and other roofed areas.

For more information contact Siemens Automation & Drives, 0860 80 80 80.

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Data Acquisition & Telemetry

Location system shows position of new cars at the assembly plant

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