Forward-looking assembly - safely supplied

C-parts-management | DMG Mori has built a state-of-the-art flow assembly at Deckel Maho Pfronten. Keller & Kalmbach will take over the c-parts-supply for the Excellence Factory.

At the DMG Mori site in Pfronten (known as Deckel Maho Pfronten), the company produces the complete model mix of the monoblock series including the rows with pallet changer (DMC) and milling-turning table (FD), a 5-axis machining center that covers 80% of all applications from aluminum to steel and is ideal especially for small and medium-sized businesses. "The popularity of monoblock machines is leading to a high demand across the model mix," says Reinhard Musch, Managing Director at Deckel Maho Pfronten. The machines are adapted precisely to the user's requirements using the modular principle.

In order to be able to serve customers even faster in the future, DMG Mori has now comprehensively modernized the factory in Pfronten. "The goal," says Musch, "was to increase area efficiency and be able to manufacture the complete model mix of the monoblock series in a highly flexible and even more productive manner." In the so-called Excellence Factory, the machines are now manufactured in a continuous flow production. The backbone of the production here is the AGV driverless transport systems on which the machines are placed and allow them to glide through the production at a speed of 45 mm per minute. Thus, they go through the 34 cycles to the finished machine within seven days - previously it was ten. Now more than 1000 customized machines can be produced annually.

Things have also changed for the employees." Once the machine is on the AGV transport system, employees work at the individual stations with optimal accessibility on the AGV and on platforms that move with it," explains Musch. The Excellence Factory, which opened in September of this year, is the only manufacturing facility that uses AGV transport systems. "Compared to rail systems, AGVs are a much more flexible solution, so they optimize the infrastructure on the manufacturing floor," Musch said, and further: "It is also possible to switch out the machine if necessary."

New assembly line requires new supply

To optimally provide the Excellence Factory with C-parts, DMG Mori worked together with Keller & Kalmbach, specialist for fasteners and fixing technology, from the beginning. "Keller & Kalmbach is already a long-time partner of Deckel Maho Pfronten, always evolving with our requirements one hundred percent", emphasizes Musch. Keller & Kalmbach was involed in the Excellence Factory project right from the start. Stephan Schissler, Key Account Manager Keller & Kalmbach, explains: "The big challenge was to deliver the goods at the right time, taking into account the amount of space available to the respective cycle." Therefore, two supply chains are available for the Excellence Factory: Parts that have a high shoring rate are delivered fromt the Keller & Kalmbach central warehouse in Hilpoltstein directly to the assembly line. Parts that are used less frequently, are pre-comissioned by a service employee in the central C-parts supermarket at the site and delivered to the cycles. Empty containers are dropped into the dropLOG box, which immediately sends an automatic order via RFID.  Two months after the start of production, optimization is now on the agenda. It is mainly a matter of shortening delivery routes in the factory, adjusting unit quantities and adding or removing parts for delivery. 

Thomas Blimmel, deputy manager Customer Logistics and Services bei Keller & Kalmbach explains: "Our goal is that demand fluctuations no longer have to reported by the customer, but that we analyze them predictively and adjust them if necessary before shortages occur." Next year, another step is on the line: Keller & Kalmbach then intends to link the third-party supplies in the Excellence Factory to its own eLogistics system in order to be able to offer procurement from a single source. DMG Mori is also planning for the future. Musch says: "The new Excellence Factory offers us and our customers so many advantages that we will also transfer this concept to other plants."