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Your 5 Step Guide to Automation with Location Data

WHY AUTOMATE? For leading automotive supplier Continental, the driving reasons behind their push for a smart factory included cost savings and increased efficiency, two far-reaching business-critical metrics. First and foremost, Continental wanted to automate and optimize repetitive manual processes and routines to increase production speed and quality. They identified the handling of material across their production as a key area for improvement.

We have a clear vision: a fully automated supply chain from planning and production control to physical material flow, that is, from material delivery to production supply to product delivery.”

Jürgen Braunstetter, Head of Automotive SCM at Continental

5 Strategic Steps Towards Fully Automated Operations: 

1) Identifying the Right Technology:
Continental decided to leverage location data for its easy and efficient automation potential. KINEXON’s smart real-time location solutions meet the requirements for full scalability, enabling a global roll-out in multiple application areas. 

2) Establishing a Holistic Digital Twin:
Continental created a powerful digital twin of moving things to locate & network all assets on the shop floor that are involved in the production process. These assets were tracked in real time using UWB sensors to deliver precise positioning of all assets on the shop floor. 

3) Location-Based Process Automation:
Live location data opens up new opportunities for Continental to automate recurring processing in their material flow. With its flexible no-code/low-code approach, location-based process automation empowers OT teams to act effectively and without excessive strains on IT staff.

4) Predictive Analytics:
Automated and digitalized processes can be analyzed and evaluated using KINEXON OS process mining tools — in real time. For example, Continental’s material replenishment processes were optimized and automated using the process mining tool. 

5) Innovating Forward:
Gaining full visibility of processes and movements allowed Continental to achieve maximum throughput and minimum delays. This enables the Continental workforce to leverage their time for value-adding tasks and furthering innovation towards fully autonomous operations.

The Smart Factory is within easy reach at Continental. Partners such as KINEXON play a major role in this endeavor. KINEXON is a good example of the fact that it is not really so much about what technology can do. Rather it is about how you can leverage technology to create applications that contribute to our vision and could be seamlessly integrated into our existing global concept.”

Dr. Markus Fischer, Industrial Engineering Lead at Continental

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