A new tire plant automation process offers total control of the material and process flow from goods-in to finished tire loading. Cimcorp has announced the expansion of its Dream Factory solution to include the handling of raw materials and compound products.
The end-to-end solution features a layout with 50 percent less floor space than conventional solutions and offers cost savings of up to 50 percent by simplifying material flow in materials handling capital investment.
The solution works with brownfield and greenfield factory sites. Key installations so far include Cordiant’s Yaroslavl Tire Plant in Russia, a brownfield site that dates back to 1932, and Tigar Tyres’ new plant in Pirot, Serbia. In June 2015, Cimcorp received a $33.5 million order for a turnkey material handling solution at Qingdao Sentury Tire’s new plant in Thailand that will continue through 2016.
Warehouse management and distribution specialist Muratec’s acquisition of Cimporp in late 2014 allowed for the addition of key upstream components to the solution, according to Kai Tuomisaari, vice president of sales and projects.
"Muratec’s warehousing and transportation technologies are now fully integrated with Cimcorp’s systems, including a user-friendly interface for operators, to provide seamless data access throughout the entire manufacturing process," Tuomisaari said.
In the Dream Factory, Cimcorp uses robot technology and a combination of warehouse control software (WCS) and manufacturing execution systems (MES). Together they allow for control of the automation process at each stage, real-time data for production and inventory, optimum utilization of the most valuable process machinery to increase in production capacity, and streamlined material flow that minimizes buffering and maximizes production efficiency. According to the company it also offers reduced buffer storage and therefore minimized work in process (WIP),minimized capital investment for greenfield sites through optimized layout design and efficient use of space and increased capacity within building constraints in brownfield sites.
Cimcorp will officially launch the new Dream Factory solution at the Tire Technology Expo in Hanover, Germany, Feb. 16-18 2016.
