Unplanned downtime on the busiest line? No longer case at ŠKODA AUTO thanks to us
When cars are assembled at ŠKODA AUTO production plants, car bodies are placed on an overhead conveyor, which moves them along the assembly line for the individual production steps. However, the conveyor malfunctions from time to time for various reasons, with the supporting aluminum profiles and conductive electrical tracks or rails being particularly prone to defects. Employees on the assembly lines must perform frequent visual inspections in hard-to-reach places and effectively the plan maintenance of machines and equipment to prevent costly repairs and unnecessary downtime.
Meet Magic Eye, our software that can automatically monitor the whole line and features great algorithm
The MAGIC EYE solution continuously scans the running beams and the conductive electrical tracks from multiple angles. The images are processed by a machine vision algorithm that is able to recognize standard and faulty status and stores the data in an AWS cloud.
However, workers needed an intuitive tool that would provide access to the outputs from the cameras and machine vision. They needed to be able to review detected defects as efficiently as possible and, if necessary, order their remediation via central processes in SAP. At the same time, managers lacked a statistical tool for analyzing the correlation between the occurrence of defects and other factors – such as the temperature in the hall, a certain segment of the line, the team on the shift, or the model being assembled. It emerged from the IT architecture strategy that the entire solution, including analytical tools, must be built on AWS cloud services.
Staff can easily and quickly react to potential risks
The software analyzes a large number of images from the cameras aimed at the production equipment and provides associated metadata, such as the exact location and the local temperature. Our application visualizes this data, so the operating staff can view not only the details of specific defects in near real time, but also a time-lapse view and extensive statistics and analyses. Based on this information, they can make timely decisions to order a major preventive repair or, for instance, to deploy a technician immediately to clean the electrical track.
In collaboration with our Bell & Hurry UX division, we created a solution that provides all the essential information and functionalities for both desktop PCs and mobile phones with everything just a few clicks or touches away, while respecting the brand’s aesthetic standard.
This is also linked to a safer environment for workers with no need for physical checks
MAGIC EYE enables early detection of loose nuts, cracks, and other possible defects before they can cause a failure. This way, ŠKODA AUTO can reduce losses from production downtime, which usually amount to tens of thousands of euros. At the same time, the solution eliminates the need for physical checks of hard-to-reach devices, which improves workplace safety.
Advantages of our solution:
- The user can continuously check the status of the line on a desktop computer or mobile phone and, if an issue is detected, create a repair ticket directly from the application using a central form in SAP.
- An intuitive solution that an average user can master in minutes.
- The flexible design is ready to be configured for other ŠKODA plants.
What we had to accomplish
- Design an intuitive yet simple UX providing multiple complex views.
- Create an interactive map of the assembly line with millimeter accuracy.
- Dynamically generate real-time videos from a large number of high-resolution photos.
- Integrate the solution with another account in the ŠKODA AUTO AWS infrastructure.
- Generate reports on the AWS QuickSight platform and make them available in the application’s user interface.
Do you need something similar? Or do you want a great technology approach?
Do not hesitate to contact use. We have many areas of expertise, and we are able to find the best solution for your individual issues.
