The automobile industry has the characteristics of a long industrial chain, numerous links, and wide coverage. In recent years, it has faced multiple challenges such as overcapacity, diversification and personalization of customer needs, rising raw material and labor costs, and compression of profit margins. In order to cope with these challenges, industry companies generally agree on the importance of using new technologies to reduce costs, improve efficiency, and realize the transformation and upgrading of intelligent manufacturing, and then fully affirm the application value of mobile robots in the automotive industry.
The automotive industry can be regarded as the earliest manufacturing field in which mobile robots have been applied in my country. After more than 30 years of development, various types of mobile robots, such as traction type, latent type, bin type, forklift type, etc., are used in auxiliary assembly, material storage, picking, It is widely used in transportation and online operation scenarios. At the same time, the pace of innovation in mobile robot technology, products and solutions continues to accelerate.
The application of mobile robots is involved in the stamping, welding, painting, and final assembly of automobile OEMs. Among them, the stamping link is mostly used for stamping off the line to the storage area. The applications in the final assembly workshop are the most common and the most mature. In-plant engines , interior and exterior decoration, chassis and other parts storage and supporting sorting are widely used online, highlighting the highly flexible and information-based characteristics of logistics robots, with obvious cost reduction benefits. Stamping Workshop
In the stamping workshop, AMR is compatible with the handling of multi-sized carriers, and can be docked with the production line robotic arm to realize automatic loading and unloading of vehicles throughout the entire process, and separation of people, vehicles, and materials, thus improving operational safety.
Welding workshop
The welding workshop production lines include welding production lines for four doors, frames, front and rear covers and fenders. In the welding workshop, for scattered car bodies, AMR can support the handling of extra-long and heterogeneous vehicles such as side panels. In the case of compact space in the welding workshop, multi-level cache and complex empty and full exchanges can be realized to flexibly meet the needs of the production line. The entire process is unmanned and intelligent, meeting the needs of mixed-line production of different models.
Paint shop
The coating shop mainly applies paint to the surface of the car body. The entire process includes cleaning, electrical wiring, color paint, varnish and other steps. After the welding is completed, the body goes into the paint shop for painting. The coating production line process is complex. At present, AMR can overcome the harsh environment and can realize the multi-step transfer of injection molded parts such as front and rear bumpers, door panels, interior and exterior trim panels, etc. to the buffer area, the online distribution of the spraying line, and the offline transfer of the spraying line.
Assembly workshop
The automobile assembly workshop assembles the body and parts into a complete vehicle and occupies the largest area in the automobile factory. In the general assembly workshop, main line logistics such as interior lines, chassis lines, door lines, and completion lines, as well as assembly such as engine subassembly, instrument subassembly, rear suspension subassembly, and front and rear axle assembly, can all be completed by AGV/AMR cooperation. The logistics workload of the assembly workshop accounts for more than 70% of the logistics workload of the entire automobile factory. Therefore, it is also the most important application place for AGV/AMR and the most mature scenario at present.
The general assembly workshop introduces AMR to complete the receipt of parts into the factory, the storage and delivery of small standard boxes and the management of empty containers. AMR supports flexible sequential delivery such as inside and outside rows. In addition, heavy-duty AMR replaces the traditional skateboard line in the main line and sub-assembly line, realizing the transformation and upgrading of final assembly production logistics and process logistics.
In the process of assembling the engine and rear axle in the chassis of the automobile assembly line, due to the large mass and volume of the engine and rear axle parts, the chassis lifting AGV/AMR car plays a huge role. At the same time, the car dispatching system can cooperate with the manufacturing execution system Interact to realize functions such as vehicle scheduling, task monitoring, error prevention and early warning, and data traceability.
In the intelligent manufacturing transformation of automobile companies, most companies face problems such as long introduction and transformation period of existing production lines, high costs, complex operation and maintenance, great impact of line shutdown, and low scalability of the overall logistics layout. As intelligent equipment, mobile robots can not only improve production efficiency, improve product quality, improve the working environment, ensure the safety of people and goods, and reduce production costs, but can also meet the growing personalized and diversified needs of consumers.
Based on SLAM & QR code integrated navigation technology, KUKA AMR has customized solutions for the automotive industry covering all processes and all scenarios including stamping, welding, painting, final assembly, and parts factories. Through the continuous iteration and optimization of the system platform algorithm, it supports the collaborative operation and task arrangement of multiple vehicle models, thereby achieving flexible distribution and refined management.
Empowering manufacturing
At present, KUKA AMR automotive industry solutions have achieved large-scale cluster operation of mobile robots on a single project site by virtue of the organic combination of standardization and customization, as well as rapid iteration and efficient delivery. This solution helps GAC Aion and a leading new energy vehicle brand in the industry to promote lean management and intelligent manufacturing, and is committed to creating a new model of smart logistics in the automotive industry.
KUKA AMR×GAC Aian
This project mainly addresses the challenges of unmanned handling in two major business scenarios, namely AMR intelligent handling of skylight canopy trolleys in the skylight canopy assembly line, and AMR intelligent handling of battery packs in the battery assembly line. In less than two months, the project was fully launched, realizing unmanned lineside handling and effectively meeting the factory's fast-paced production needs. At the same time, the production efficiency and docking accuracy have been greatly improved, laying a solid foundation for the realization of the overall intelligent logistics project of Aian's second intelligent manufacturing center.
This time, KUKA and Aian jointly developed. KUKA provided multiple AMR mobile robots and K-MRS software platform to build an integrated intelligent logistics solution to realize intelligent transportation of materials in two scenarios: the skylight canopy assembly line and the battery assembly line. After the project was put into operation, the logistics within the factory have been significantly optimized, the logistics efficiency has been greatly improved, the operating environment has been improved, and production capacity has been increased. KUKA AMR×A leading new energy vehicle brand in an industry
KUKA AMR implements automated handling and intelligent management of small items in the customer's Xi'an after-sales warehouse, improving the efficiency of entering and exiting the warehouse, reducing error rates, and improving operational levels. The customer introduced 20 latent lifting KMP 1500i, 1 automatic disassembly and picking system composed of KUKA robots, box conveyor lines and supporting sorting equipment, and equipped with a customized WMS system to interface with the K-MRS system to achieve real-time order management , inbound and outbound information monitoring, AMR vehicle management, task execution and other functions.
After the implementation of the project, 6 manpower was saved, labor costs were reduced for the customer, the inventory density of small parts increased by 200%, the picking accuracy reached 99.9%, and the overall work efficiency increased by 100%. Realize the automation, unmanned, and digitalization of the entire process of lineside handling, warehousing, storage, and outbound delivery, improve the timeliness of distribution, reduce the number of lineside caches, improve space utilization, and realize the intelligent and digitalization of automated material box storage.
According to statistical analysis by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, new energy vehicles will continue to grow rapidly in 2023. The production and sales of new energy vehicles will complete 9.587 million units and 9.495 million units respectively, a year-on-year increase of 35.8% and 37.9% respectively. Production and sales have ranked first in the world for 9 consecutive years.
There is no doubt that AGV/AMR, as a powerful helper for flexible manufacturing and intelligent assembly, will gradually replace traditional logistics technology in the four major processes of automotive stamping, welding, painting, and final assembly, realizing logistics automation and intelligent assembly, providing car companies with Help realize digital and unmanned automobile intelligent manufacturing factories in the future.
