KRONE automates with KUKA both in Brownfield and Greenfield. In Werlte, Lower Saxony, stationary and autonomous mobile robots optimize existing processes – in Ibbenbüren, a Smart Factory was created on greenfield land. What unites both projects: the will to realize customer wishes, secure jobs, and rethink production in a new and future-proof way.
It doesn't make much fuss. Almost silently, the autonomously driving platform makes its way through the production hall. It delivers a 100-liter compressed air tank to a welding station with centimeter precision. There, a KUKA handling robot is already waiting to pick it up from the platform and then weld it with other components in the processing cell.
What sounds like futuristic music in the assembly of components for a truck is already everyday life at KRONE Group, one of the largest manufacturers of agricultural machinery and commercial vehicles: In a partnership with KUKA, KRONE relies on intelligent automation – both in an existing factory (Brownfield) and in a new, smart production site (Greenfield). The result is more efficient processes, higher value creation, relieved employees, and competitive production 'made in Germany'.
The company relies on KUKA as a technology partner – and consistently pursues the path of automation both in an existing plant in Werlte and in the recent construction of a Greenfield factory of GTS Green Teuto Systemtechnik GmbH in Ibbenbüren – with manufacturing robots working in conjunction with driverless transport systems. And therein lies the great potential for KRONE. 'Our AMR fleet management provides the decisive key to the transformation to a Smart Factory,' says Nikita Daubert, AMR Business Development Manager for the DACH region at KUKA. 'It can be flexibly coupled with in-house control systems, such as MES/ERP. This way, we can support customers like KRONE in all their automation concepts as needed and with a future-oriented approach.'
Flexibility in the existing structure: Werlte is being automated
In Werlte, Lower Saxony, KRONE operates a truck trailer manufacturing facility with established structures. With the support of Silver Robotics, a KRONE subsidiary for implementing innovative and customized robotics & machine engineering solutions both at KRONE itself and for external customers, an automated cell has now been established. Six-axis KUKA handling and welding robots work digitally connected with autonomous mobile robots, such as the KMP 1500P.
The compact AMR carries up to 1.5 tons and moves independently in production with its differential drive technology. Integrated 3D cameras and laser scanners ensure flexibility and safety in a working environment with people. The inductive charging concept keeps the platform operational around the clock.
'We had previously put all our existing processes to the test and transferred them to new processes and working methods such as modular construction,' explains René Mecklenburg, Managing Director of Silver Robotics GmbH. 'And we thought further towards intralogistics and optimized material flow. Because we want to offer our customers our products faster – and with even higher quality and at economical, marketable prices.'
From welding curtain to smart cell
The supply of the welding robots is now autonomous, and forklifts are to largely disappear from production. Instead, the transport platform autonomously brings materials, such as the compressed air tanks or door elements, to the cell. There, a handling robot places them into the welding system. The finished assemblies are also automatically transported away from there.
'The mobile robots help us to link many processes that are very extensive here. This way, we were able to do without a lot of conveyor technology and at the same time significantly increase efficiency in production and intralogistics processes,' says René Mecklenburg. Humans and machines work hand in hand at KRONE: 'The employees take care of preparing the parts and quality control, while robots handle the physically demanding welding work. This way, we relieve employees from heavy, monotonous tasks, create more order, and increase safety,' Mecklenburg adds.
Volker Perk, Production Manager of the KRONE Commercial Vehicle Group, sees robotics as a central building block for securing the location: 'We want to continue producing truck trailers like the 'Profi Liner' in Germany in the future. However, we need to automate processes because we simply can no longer find skilled workers for many required tasks. Robotics gives us the opportunity to engage our employees in more efficient or value-adding activities.'
New beginning with a plan: The GTS Smart Factory Ibbenbüren
How automation and the Smart Factory were implemented at KRONE is described by Jochen Roling, Managing Director at GTS, from his own experience: 'Previously, we only automated the process behind the welding curtain. At some point, it became clear: to operate the facility efficiently and economically, material flow and operation must also be automated.' This is where KUKA's mobile robots came into play.
While Werlte continuously modernizes existing processes somewhat 'on the fly', a completely new factory for agricultural machinery manufacturing was created in just twelve months in Ibbenbüren, North Rhine-Westphalia, with Green Teuto Systemtechnik, GTS, also a subsidiary of the KRONE Group – as a Greenfield solution, literally on 'greenfield' land. Here, automated welding assemblies are produced, which are later painted and then installed in agricultural machinery. 'Why Smart Factory? Why also a new factory?' asks Jochen Roling, immediately providing the answer: 'At KRONE, we intend to specialize our plants towards the end product. 'Smart' means for us to manufacture as efficiently and scalably as possible using digitalization and automation.' The advantage of the Greenfield approach was being able to plan without restrictions and without existing structures. 'With the support of KUKA, we rely on state-of-the-art, smart, and sustainable manufacturing concepts and processes. That’s why we made automated supply and integrated data processing of the production and assembly lines a prerequisite from the very beginning,' says Roling. The result: 'The entire production architecture of the Smart Factory was designed from the ground up to be data-driven and scalable – a milestone in KRONE's history.'
The basis of the Smart Factory in Ibbenbüren is an IT architecture that captures real-time data and processes it based on events. Every machine, every robot, and every transport vehicle is digitally connected. 'This allows production to respond immediately to exceeding tolerances or disturbances. Therefore, we have long stopped talking about control loops and instead refer to feedback loops,' says Perk. 'The systems are adaptable; they learn and correct themselves.'
This change also affects the communication between development and production. 'In the past, production adapted to product changes. Today, it is the other way around. All requirements from production are already incorporated into the next development,' says Roling.
Three steps to full automation
KRONE follows a three-step implementation concept on its automation path. The first step involves establishing a holistic perspective for automating the process. Building on this, solutions for automated material transport via AMR come into focus. Step three is then automated parts handling.
Following this principle, KRONE designed the plant in Ibbenbüren. Today, nine welding and handling robots work synchronously with two machining centers and an automatic measuring cell in a single manufacturing island. This way, downtime has been nearly eliminated, as robots and transport platforms remain in sync around the clock. Production can be flexibly ramped up or down without the previously insurmountable personnel shortages becoming a limiting factor.
'This scalability of the production architecture – from small cells to complex interconnected lines – is a core goal of the new Smart Factory,' says Roling. As a test, the first KMP 3000P are now also in use in Ibbenbüren. They can move up to three tons in the production halls, and in tandem even double that, moving omnidirectionally with the highest precision even in tight spaces.
"We make work more attractive"
One thing is particularly important to the KRONE factory planners: Automation does not mean the end of human work, but rather its enhancement. 'The operation of highly automated systems has gained value. Employees experience this as a future job,' says Roling. Mecklenburg adds: 'We see that colleagues are actively applying for these positions internally.' Ergonomics also plays a role: 'The new workplaces are safer and less physically demanding. This makes them attractive – especially for younger generations,' says Perk.
What is not attractive in the job market are monotonous, repetitive tasks, dealing with heavy loads, and the dangers associated with welding itself: from toxic gases and fumes to the risk of burns and electric shocks. 'We simply cannot find people for these jobs anymore. Robotics helps us keep our locations competitive even in demographic change,' emphasizes Perk. The automotive industry, with its high production volumes, has set an example: 'In series production, automation is economically indispensable. This also applies today to smaller quantities, as seen in the production of individually configured agricultural machinery.' In this regard, the collaboration with KUKA is considered strategically important at KRONE. 'KUKA not only provides technology but also brings a systems approach. We learn together, develop further together,' says Perk.
Looking ahead: Assembly, variant production, and AI
For the future, René Mecklenburg sees further potential in assembly automation: 'Especially with highly variable products, we need to automate without losing flexibility.' Entirely new potentials are being unlocked through the ever-accelerating progress of digitalization and artificial intelligence. 'The systems learn to recognize errors and optimize themselves,' says Volker Perk. 'We can build on that further.' Jochen Roling immediately thinks of a saying from Dante in the office of owner Bernard Krone: 'One waits for the time to change, the other takes action and acts.' They have much planned at KRONE.
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