ams OSRAM is fully committed to digitalisation and automation

Well over 100 million “light points” leave the factory every year

“It is precisely this transparency and openness that makes the visits to the best practice companies so important,” says Michael Hahn, partner at Staufen. Together with the other participants, Hahn had previously been guided through the production facility by the two value stream managers Andreas Ponnier and Thomas Biber. Two value streams? This is exactly what makes it clear what task ams OSRAM is currently facing. While halogen lamps for car headlights, fog lamps and indicators are still being produced on one side of the plant, modern LED variants are being produced on the other side. In total, around 600 employees ensure that well over 100 million “points of light” make their way from East Württemberg, in Germany into the wide world.

Even though technological change divides the plant into “old” and “new” production, the same goals apply to both business areas: to gain market share and to be an absolutely reliable partner for customers. To achieve this, ams OSRAM is consistently focusing on digitalization and automation. On this day, visitors are particularly fascinated by how big data and Industry 4.0 are also being used in the traditional area – with machines that are sometimes older than they are themselves. For example, artificial intelligence helps to control the quality of weld seams. A business intelligence solution visualizes potential for improvement directly on site and enables long-term analyses to further minimize scrap. In addition, each individual lamp is given an ID and its relevant data is stored in a database and can be accessed at any time.

In the long term, however, the future belongs to LED technology manufactured in clean rooms. What once started as a project business with flexible individual machines has now become a fully automated mass production facility, which is also represented as a digital twin. Thanks to the modular concept, ams OSRAM was able to increase the utilization rate of the machines used there by 25 percent. However, the star on the LED shop floor is “Idefix”. The Autonomous Mobile Robot (AMR) is responsible for the transport of materials, i.e. activities that neither add value nor are ergonomically sensible for the employees.

The self-programmed heart of Herbrechtingen

While ams OSRAM relied on the expertise of the Nuremberg specialist Evocortex for AMR, the Manufacturing Execution System “myQi” is a genuine in-house development that also functions as an interface to the ERP system. From Shop Floor Management to production planning to test equipment monitoring and shift and vacation planning, myQi is something like the heart of Herbrechtingen – tailor-made and with no license costs. The so-called ticket manager, which enables complete shipment tracking in intralogistics, is also largely based on the selfprogrammed software.

Driving things forward independently and pragmatically is clearly in the blood of the team around plant manager Harald Mannbeiss. In order to always be efficient and focused, ams OSRAM relies on the lean method Hoshin Kanri. This means that a vision is always translated into concrete breakthrough goals, and all measures must then consistently contribute to achieving them.

External engineering and prototyping services as a new business area

This entrepreneurial thinking has led to ams OSRAM now opening up additional business areas in addition to the production of halogen and LED lamps. “Numerous other companies, including those outside the automotive industry, are already benefiting from our engineering know-how,” says Micha Grüninger, Head of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Supervisor at plant Herbrechtingen, Germany. Such external projects include, for example, the construction of prototypes or support with the topic of glass-metal bonding, a core competence of ams OSRAM. In addition, the plant in Herbrechtingen, Germany has its own large laboratory in which, for example, temperature, water resistance and stress tests are carried out on countless test benches – even for external customers.

On this day, site manager Harald Mannbeiss also showed his visitors this area, which the visitors did not expect: “Such a Best Practice Visit is a real win-win situation, because we were able to take away a lot from the numerous questions and suggestions in order to become even better in terms of operational excellence.”