Bürkert and the holistic approach to Industry 4.0

27 October, 2017

Company-wide management and control

A key element for implementing digitisation at Bürkert is Product Lifecycle Management (PLM). Rohrbeck pointed out that PLM refers to the well-known process of holistic, company-wide management and control of all product data and processes of the entire life-cycle across the expanded logistics chain – from design and production through to sales and all the way to disassembly and recycling.

He added, however, that this procedure must be applied even more systematically than before. “This calls for carefully configured data structures to ensure that information is stored so that it can be retrieved quickly when needed, e.g. characteristics lists,” he said.

Rohrbeck added that, in this regard, Product Data Management (PDM), which stores data from the product development and makes it available to the downstream phases of the product life-cycle, has an important role to play. He also pointed out that, at the same time, an intelligent connection to the Master Data Management (MDM) and ERP system (Enterprise Resource Planning) is required – and employees must also be taken into account. “They must be suitably qualified and receive further training so that they can meet future requirements,” said Rohrbeck. “This applies in particular to the sales force, which acts as the interface to the customer. Trained sales professionals act as consultants who listen closely to and understand the needs of customers.”

The role of digitisation in development and production

So, how can this type of digitisation strategy aid the development and manufacture of smart products? In terms of development, Rohrbeck’s view is that it is important to consider platforms that will enable diverse uses of modules or components. However, he believes the fundamental question in this respect is how can existing data structures be combined with the relevant platform to create unique products. “In principle, the process is similar to that of a Lego construction set – individual components can be combined over and over again to create different solutions or to realise new systems,” he said, adding that at Bürkert, these are the ‘building blocks’ of the control circuit – sensors, controllers, actuators etc. – and it is vital to document precisely what is used when and where. “Then nobody needs to hunt through parts lists in order to execute an identical or similar order later on,” explained Rohrbeck.

During the subsequent production, Rohrbeck maintains that a batch size of 1 must also be economically feasible to manufacture. “This calls for a structured process chain, optimum descriptions and, of course, sound data structures – from component availability in the small parts store to the assembly group and all the way to the distribution centre,” he said. “To achieve this, the company IT must be capable of mastering the complex processes. Simply keeping the automatic small parts store at a single Bürkert production plant running smoothly entails twelve computers communicating with one another, for instance.”