Cimcorp’s Dream Factory concept offers extensive logistics automation for tire manufacturers. The productivity enhancing concept can be applied to both greenfield and brownfield projects.
With its Dream Factory concept, Cimcorp has gained a rightful reputation as the sole provider of high-quality end-to-end logistics automation for greenfield tire manufacturing plants. All along the way, the company has been installing several individual automation modules for brownfield projects as well.
“The pragmatics used in creating the Dream Factory concept are a result of our long and ongoing history in logistics automation for brownfield projects,” says Kai Tuomisaari, Cimcorp’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing.
With full control of material flow, precise real-time data for production and inventory management, Dream Factory solutions have been proved – along with other enhancements – to reduce costs and raise effectiveness.
“Reducing labor costs is often the main goal for manufacturers. But even in countries where the costs are relatively low and the availability of a workforce is ensured, the flexibility and efficiency of our solutions have brought substantial advantages,” says Tuomisaari.
Thorough expertise
The benefits of the Dream Factory concept are widespread. According to Tuomisaari, logistics automation has raised the bar even in cases where manually operated production lines have been thought to be as productive as possible.
“Complete automation and material flow logistics improves the final output of the plant by increasing the capacity of the line and by improving tirequality. Expenses for this extra output derive solely from raw materials and everything else is just pure profit, making the return of investment apparent.”
Cimcorp’s Dream Factory concept covers the whole logistics process of tire manufacturing from tire building to curing, finishing, warehousing, picking and dispatching. Automating material handling throughout the plant can optimize throughput, minimize buffer stocks and make dynamic use of available space. The whole logistics process is controlled with Cimcorp’s own WCS software, tracking every individual tire through the process.
“The WCS system is a standard feature in all of our projects, from the smallest automation features to full-scale solutions,” says Tuomisaari. “In fact, the whole Dream Factory concept is adaptable. We have also successfully installed each part of the concept in brownfield plants.”
Adaptable modular structure
Cimcorp’s expertise in building comprehensive logistics automation solutions relies on the company’s thorough and up to date knowledge of the tire manufacturing process.
“Our know-how is obtained through years of working with automation in brownfield projects. Brownfield projects are one of the main areas of our business,” Tuomisaari says.
Due to the Dream Factory concept’s modular structure, parts of it can be fitted even to existing automation systems. As well as in the case of greenfield customers, those with only partial Dream factory automation have attained significant improvements for their operations. Feedback from clients worldwide has been extremely positive.
“For example automated shipping has significantly reduced the time span between receiving an order and delivering the tires ordered. This results in a major competitive edge for both the manufacturer and the end client,” says Tuomisaari. “The same kind of benefits can be gained with other partial Dream Factory solutions as well.”
While delivering plant-wide end-to-end solutions, Cimcorp has also invested in developing modular and more competitive robot cells for individual operation phases. As Tuomisaari points out, development is not a oneway street.
“Our main task is to ensure our capability to serve clients with different aspirations, whether it’s green, brown, big or small,” says Tuomisaari. “The aim is to raise the overall efficiency and quality of our clients’ processes.
CUSTOMER BENEFITS
Output is maximized by ensuring 100% availability of tires for all processing and testing machines
100% tire traceability and process data management are ensured by highly effective control systems
Production flexibility is optimized through the ability to make tire type changes and new tire additions automatically at any time.
Product quality is improved through gentle and accurate handling
Customer satisfaction is enhanced through error-free and fast robotic tire picking and shipping
Financial and space savings are achieved through reduced WIP (Work In Process)
TEXT: TOTTI TOISKALLIO PHOTOS: JUSSI PARTANEN, ESA KYYRÖ ILLUSTRATION: TIMO KYYRÖ
