Researchers from Fraunhofer IPA and the International Performance Research Institute (IPRI) have compared costs and benefits of cyber-physical systems in a viability study. For the first time, this will enable businesses to predict the costs over an entire life cycle and to identify the most cost effective solution.
One of the advantages of commissioning robots in warehouses and using driverless transport systems to load goods is the increased flexibility such systems give a company. This is because cyber-physical systems (CPS) can be linked to Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and can, for example, report back in virtual real time when raw materials are removed. If stock runs short, the ERP system is able to immediately order new supplies. The automated supply of information has other benefits, for example, it can also reduce the error rate. At the same time, CPS technology is able to handle a high number of variants, as it is flexible enough to adapt quickly to short notice changes in the order position.
However, until now, all of this has been difficult to quantify. Martina Schiffer from the Department of Factory Planning and Production Management at Fraunhofer IPA highlights that “it is difficult to assess the costs and benefits of a driverless transport system with any degree of reliability.” The reason for this is that all potential CPS users have their own IT infrastructure. Connecting the technologies to the existing ERP or Manufacturing Execution System (MES) can incur high costs. “Even the existing processes would probably have to be adjusted as they are not configured for use with these new technologies”, says Martina Schiffer.
It is almost impossible for anyone to draw on empirical data, firstly because CPS technologies are new and not yet in use across the board and secondly, because every business is structured and organized differently. Philip Autenrieth, researcher at IPRI in Stuttgart, says: “Even small and medium-sized enterprises have huge problems in estimating investment costs in CPS technology.” In order to give a rough guideline, Philip Autenrieth and Martina Schiffer together with their colleagues, have developed a method for comparing the costs of investment in CPS technology and the anticipated increase in performance in a viability study.
The basis of this is the generation of the typology of all current CPS technologies associated with specific intralogistic processes. As a result, it is possible to quickly determine which products are needed for each application. Mispurchases become more unlikely. When a choice is made, an Excel application based on Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) produces qualitative statements on its benefits, such as: “A sensor armband for commissioning has a great influence on data quality” or “A driverless transport system has a moderate influence on processing time.”
Moreover, users can compare the existing and future costs with or without the use of CPS technologies. In this way, it is possible to identify the point at which a purchase would become viable. It is also possible to populate the database with several offers from a variety of manufacturers and in so doing, identify the best offer. The viability study enables small and medium-sized enterprises in particular to predict the costs of CPS technologies over their entire life cycle. This simplifies the investment decision and increases client competitiveness and satisfaction.
The viability study can be ordered at the link below: https://www.ipri-institute.com/industrie40profitabel
Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA