Power pack:
Production for e-model at a new level
Compared to combustion engines, electric vehicles are real heavyweights. Production technology must follow suit accordingly. We recently upgraded, on a comprehensive basis, the conveyor and lifting technology of an existing system at the Bremen plant for one of the world’s leading car manufacturers.
We have developed and built 124 brand-new push platforms including lifting tables, a completely new control architecture and an uninterruptible external power supply from battery storage. “The biggest challenge in development and integration is the limited space for people and technology at work,” explained Andreas Tenne, who heads the Automotive Conveying Technology department in Bremen together with Josef Reicksmann.
However, it was not just fitting the innovative technology into the smallest of spaces that presented the project team with tricky tasks: As one platform alone measures 5.50 x 3.30 metres, a hall had to be rented especially for test assembly. The system was mechanically and electrically tested there in advance. “We have directly considered quality assurance and recorded every single step in detail with our SCHULZ ProKom documentation tool,” explained Andreas Tenne.
Once all tests had been passed and all 60 checkmarks agreed with the clients had been set, the push platforms in the assembly hall were subsequently replaced. “In order not to disrupt ongoing production operations, we always carried out the exchange during the non-production time at the weekend,” explained the department manager, adding: “These were real sprints that usually lasted until Sunday afternoon. We handed the system back over in the evening and stayed on site until 3.00 a.m. to make sure everything was working.”
The dedicated work of around twelve colleagues on site has paid off. The plant has been running in multi-shift operation since the end of last November. Each push platform can now move payloads of up to 2,000 kilograms. Nothing stands in the way of the integration of the new e-vehicle type in terms of funding.
The biggest challenge in development and integration is the limited space for people and technology at work.”
Andreas Tenne, Head of Conveyor Technology SCHULZ Bremen
