MAN Optimizes New Truck Assembly Plant with Dassault Systèmes’ DELMIA Process Engineer
Simulations Minimize Cost and Potential Production Problems

Amidst the verdant countryside of Niepolomice, near Cracow, Poland, heavy vehicle manufacturer, MAN Nutzfahrzeuge AG, found a home for its newest truck assembly plant. The facility was designed and constructed in DELMIA Process Engineer.

By mid 2007, the new assembly plant began its production of trucks for MAN Nutzfahrzeuge AG. The plant has the capacity to build 15,000 trucks annually. A gleaming new 81,000m2 structure was erected on a 142-hectare industrial site, with 65,000m2 set aside for the assembly hall and it is anticipated that 650 new jobs will be created by 2009.

When deciding to build the new assembly plant, MAN took the opportunity to create a production facility that implements the best practices of the group in terms of assembly processes, logistics, resource planning, and technologies. Planners took cues from other vehicle manufacturers through close observation and study. “We think that Europe’s most modern assembly plant is right here in Niepolomice,” explains Thorsten Franz. With a background in engineering and a specialty in production planning, Franz will assume management of final assembly at the plant.

Innovative Software Methods for an Innovative Plant
High goals were set for the new plant, and to achieve them, previously optimized production processes required further scrutiny in DELMIA. As Alexander von Klein, key account manager at DELMIA, says: “To break new ground takes courage.” A team of planners from MAN joined DELMIA software specialists to develop plans, and through close collaboration, ensured that the software-based methods could be adapted to the truck manufacturer’s standards, and be put to optimal use.

Three strands underlie production planning with DELMIA Process Engineer: Product (components, component assembly), Processes (manufacturing and logistics processes), and Resources (manufacturing resources, equipment and machines, logistics elements, layout). Data sets were correlated before being networked and visualized in 3-D. Building on this, the team developed production designs, manufacturing system layout, materials handling and transportation systems planning, scheduling and work shift models, and even the layout of individual work stations. An initial draft plan was honed to encompass the finest details. This means if a detail changes, the effects can be seen on the system as a whole.

High Standards for the New Plant
The new plant will build TGA Worldwide trucks - a model specially designed to meet the requirements of East European markets. In addition, the plant is also expected to assemble MAN’s entire heavy vehicle series, including the two-axle, three-axle, and four-axle trucks ranging from 5.5 to 12 meters in length. Hence, production scheduling has to accommodate a high degree of model variation. On top of this, engineers targeted lean production, with the lowest possible use of warehouse space and a high proportion of just-in-time
supplies.

Initially, the MAN truck assembly plants in Munich and Salzgitter served as role models for planning. Thorsten Franz explains: “We had to scrutinize the structures in Munich and Salzgitter critically, to determine which ones were appropriate for us. The pivotal questions were: Which product do we want to build in Cracow? How many work cycles do we need in order to assemble this product? How many employees do we need for which work cycle? What supply volumes have to be dealt with? To answer these, DELMIA Process Engineer proved invaluable.”

An initial draft plan of the new plant was prepared using different assembly lines complete with line balancing on the various stations, such as framework construction, painting systems, wheel, cab, and motor assembly.

Process Optimization
At first, these plans resulted in a facility that covered a relatively large area with long processing routes. “With the DELMIA Process Engineer, we had an excellent opportunity to play out various scenarios: which model mix do we need for how many work cycles and how many employees?” describes Thorsten Franz.

Alternative manufacturing designs, manufacturing systems layout, materials handling, tests for usability and the supply concept, along with line balancing and cycle periods were all placed in context, then visualized and optimized. The workstations, component data, employees, supplier parts containers, and the trucks to be assembled were transformed into 3D models. In so doing, the plans became substantially more transparent. Among other benefits, these tests resulted in significantly improved logistics at MAN’s Cracow plant. As an illustration in the sphere of parts requiring assembly; a truck consists of approximately 6,500 parts delivered in containers, all of which must be available at the right time in the right place. Visualization revealed how original plans would have led to the concentration of materials at certain locations, and rendered feasible work processes impossible. “Without a doubt, we had too much material at the assembly line,” explains Thorsten Franz. “This would have thrown a spanner into the works at production start-up. This is why we initiated more sequencing, and installed pre-assembly zones that enormously reduce the volume of parts that are delivered directly to the assembly line. I believe we were able to considerably minimize costs and problems through simulation.”

Thorsten Franz envisages a future that entails design-for-assembly of individual components. “We have already achieved significant synergies from the collaboration among the logistics, technology and assembly divisions, and achieved considerable cost savings. However, we’re still a long way from exhausting all possibilities, and we will continue to review them.”

Future Planning in 3-D
V5 software technology, which is already in use in production development and engineering at MAN through CATIA, is also available to production planning through DELMIA. The advantage to MAN is that, as the number of parts changes, or when a new truck model is being constructed, the virtual part can be examined while it is still in the engineering phase. It can be interrogated for its adaptability for assembly, its maneuverability on the assembly line, and its effects on ergonomic aspects. This means that the future of engineering is gradually converging with that of manufacturing.

Information about MAN Nutzfahrzeuge AG at:
www.man-mn.com.