Case study: flexible R&D team to support industry 4.0 engineering services

1. Situation

The Client is producing plastic polymer and electronic components for the automotive industry, in modern automated plants across Europe. In their continuous pursuit to be a leader in smart automation, improve quality, reduce material and energy consumption, they reached out to WorkNomads for a flexible reinforcement of their team across all plants.

WorkNomads established a dynamic pool of engineering resources to support the Client’s ambitions in Industry 4.0 process automation, machine-build, 3D printing and tooling design.

3. Process

Establishing R&D team

WorkNomads started assembling a complementary team of specialists to deliver the planned projects and services.

Establishing an R&D laboratory

The objective was to design and prototype an innovative digital printing machine to enable fast, high-quality digital printing with efficient paint consumption. The Client noticed their plastic parts painting processes were slow and consumed excessive material and energy.

WorkNomads supported the Client with installing a chemical laboratory providing:

• Chemical R&D
• CMM- measurements
• 3D Printing & Prototyping

A design team with diverse skill sets was assembled, and prepared a design plan. The design was implemented in sprints, providing fast results and prompt solutions. Computer-aided design software facilitated flexible design processes with fast exploration of alternatives. The approach was reinforced by 3D printing for prototyping, resulting in a ready conceptual design for full-scale prototyping.

Automate existing production lines across plants

In parallel, WorkNomads’ industrial team analyzed existing production lines, planned, designed, and executed automation of the lines, thereby increasing production speed, effectiveness, and product quality.

Automation of an old painting line

The main target was to modernize an old painting line in the automotive production. WorkNomads’ team got acquainted in detail with the existing technical documentation and the old machine software. The purpose was to plan carefully all future modifications and production line renovation with minimum necessary impact on the existing installed equipment.

The project team then specified the customer requirements – automation of the old painting line, comprised of re-arrangement and optimization of the electrical schematics, installation of new controllers, new components (invertors, electrical components) and HMI panel to allow modern interface between the operators and the newly automated system. The project led to a more functional production line – better and easier operator control via the new interface, improved process control and functionality, and improved troubleshooting of the separate modules in the production line.

Modification of small digital printer

The project’s purpose was to improve both the size of the printing area and the printing spectrum. Our engineering team performed an analysis and planned modifications of the digital printer machine. A second printing head was installed, the two heads (old and new) were synchronized to one another and to the moving shuttle. A new UV lamp was also installed, as in parallel a modification of the UV control was performed as to ensure smooth operation of the expanded system. The result was the improvement of the printing performance in terms of bigger printing size with wider spectrum used. The whole process also involved SW enhancement/ modification as to allow smooth performance of the modified system.

4. Outcome

The Client increased its production capacity across the plants and improved quality through smart industrial solutions. WorkNomads managed to become a trusted R&D engineering partner supporting the Client’s needs whenever and wherever needed.