Industry 4.0 Award for Bosch Rexroth Assembly Line

The project team on the Industry 4.0 assembly line at Bosch Rexroth in Homburg Distinction for Best Integration of Human, Process, and Machine

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A new assembly line at Bosch Rexroth AG in Homburg/Saar was recognized with the “Industry 4.0 Award“ as a pioneer in the practical implementation of Industry 4.0. The prize is awarded by the trade journal "Produktion" along with ROI Management Consulting AG. The independent panel evaluated the assembly line which was commissioned in the middle of this year to be the best implementation of Industry 4.0 in production.

“The solution implemented by Bosch Rexroth is exemplary of the potential of Industry 4.0: holistic and cost efficient implementation has led to significant improvements in productivity and serves as a model for other companies“, Hans-Georg Scheibe, Director of ROI Management Consulting AG, explained regarding the selection of Bosch Rexroth. The panel arrived at its decision on the basis of comprehensible indicators as well as an on-site visit. The award was given during the course of the Second Industry 4.0 Convention.

Over 200 different hydraulic valves are assembled into a single value stream on the assembly line at the Bosch Rexroth plant in Homburg/Saar. Its special feature: using an RFID Chip on the work piece, the nine intelligent stations on the line recognize how the finished product has to be assembled and, accordingly, which operational steps are necessary. Displays show personnel the corresponding working instructions for the version that is to be processed. “The assembly line integrates human, product, and machine under conditions of flexible mass production“, stressed Frank Hess, Plant Manager at the Rexroth plant in Homburg. “Using this, we can economically manufacture a multitude of customized products down to batch sizes of one".

In the planning and implementation of the assembly line Bosch Rexroth primarily used its own products and solutions. The specialist for drive and control solutions links open automation solutions with its own intelligence. In 2013 Bosch Rexroth received the “HERMES AWARD“, an international technology prize, for a software solution that integrates machines with company IT.