AGVs are a critical part of your manufacturing process, taking on more engaging roles in manufacturing month by month. Our experts understand the equipment you use to transport your product in and around your production facilities, which allows us to design systems that increase productivity and reduce costs.
Whether your challenge is cycle time reduction, head count reduction, or overcoming space constraints, we’re here to enable you to overcome any obstacle. With the introduction of driver-less AGVs, including taped and tapeless, we are able to make your manufacturing process even more nimble. Look to us for AGV selection, sourcing, and implementation.
Case Studies
AGV Training Cell
How to Best Utilize New Equipment & New Employees?
THE SITUATION
With the introduction of several hundred auto-guided vehicles in a newly built manufacturing facility, and new employees with zero AGV experience, our client wanted to maximize benefits from its significant investments
THE REQUEST
We were asked to share our maintenance training program, built on our expertise in sourcing, installing · and troubleshooting AGV systems in factory settings.
THE PROCESS
We took the training cell we designed and built from scratch, collected, and curated existing user-guide material, developed our own materials based on our on-the-ground experiences, and prepared a week-long training for maintenance members on how to keep and return AGVs in optimal shape. This has since been adopted as the standard training process for our client.
THE RESULT
After the training, we reached out to participants to build on our successes and identify improvements. The feedback was incredibly positive. Attendees took great benefit from our deep experience, and our professionally delivered training, complementing its pace and our team’s engagement in instruction.
Single Station Modification
How do we modify one critical station in a line, full of legacy technology, without disrupting current production?
THE SITUATION
A model change required the client to upgrade its process without discarding or disrupting conjoined equipment. The upgrade specifically took one line that had been used to produce an older version of a minivan and re-design it to support a newly imagined minivan as well as adding on capabilities to produce a small SUV. In production for nearly 20 years, generations of technology were competing directly for productivity. The project would free up valuable floor space but required significant detangling of an existing process built up over years.
THE REQUEST
The client approached CSI to upgrade its Underbody weld station without disrupting the existing plant operations. The client needed these upgrades to integrate with existing equipment seamlessly.
THE PROCESS
The project took place amidst a web of differing technologies, communication systems, and production requirements. To net out with maximum improved value, CSI needed to ensure that the positive consequences of one change were not outweighed by new inefficiencies. The existing process design worked for the old van, but it could not support two new models. The auto-guided vehicles (AGV) that had worked with a conveyor system were not able to carry the new parts. CSI investigated the optimal way to deliver component parts to the Underbody station. The initial process utilized three different AGV types, of differing ages, and these all needed to have seamlessly communicated systems, so they did not run into each other.
THE RESULT
After proposing, testing, and improving on solutions, CSI decided to remove the existing conveyor system and rely entirely on two AGV types, and newly customized AGV tooling designed by our engineers. Parts would be loaded from/unloaded into a material handler. This new process met cycle time requirements and distributed the load of the heavy parts. CSI devised an adjustment to all other AGV systems around the one legacy system. CSI also customized the loading/unloading time of parts to meet cycle time requirements and added a production indication function to the system to look ahead and hold the next part in the proper position without interfering with other processes. This new process met cycle time requirements and distributed the load of the heavy parts.