Determination of optimal sequences for car body shop, paint shop and assembly line

Car manufacturers are able to cut production process time and effort with Qualicision® Sequencing Software.

Processes in the automotive industry can be optimized substantially by a new and more efficient, as well as effective, sequencing strategy.

With the Qualicision® Sequencing software, this optimization will be achieved. It has been proven that the performance of existing production lines can be significantly increased, yielding a highly competitive ROI and without disturbing production during its implementation. BMW Group is the first global manufacturer that already successfully integrated the new IT Tool in its plants at a corporate level.

This new way of production planning and calculating the sequences in which cars will be produced offers car manufacturers considerable benefits. Sequencing a week's production, that is, determining the order in which each car will be manufactured, is now done in minutes instead of half an hour or even more. Sequencing a daily shift - often only a matter of fine adjustment - is completed in a minute or less. As an immediate result, line operators are able to optimize their processes at the latest possible time, while keeping a much higher degree of freedom.

The car manufacturer also gains in preplanning and logistical efficiencies. With a clear-cut and assigned planning horizon of up to one week, the carmaker can give partners more flexibility to optimize their supply chain and logistics. As the demand for specific components is communicated to the suppliers six days previous to production, suppliers are able to organize their production and logistics better. This enables them to reduce inventory and improve their just-in-time and/or just-in-sequence supply logistics. All partners in the supply chain can therefore manufacture the exact number of components while keeping close to the required delivery time.

Within minutes, the line operator can develop an updated production plan covering a single day, shift, or even an entire week. If due to circumstances like late parts deliveries sudden changes become necessary, the production plan can be instantly updated.

The open data export allows the user to download or upload the data into another platform or application, to generate production simulations or other types of analysis. Thus, it is possible to integrate the software in practically any IT ambience working with ERP or data warehouse systems.