Matrix production: an example for Industrie 4.0

Increasing customization in times of Industrie 4.0 is changing production. Volatile markets make the profitable manufacture of small batch sizes ever more important. Increasingly, the challenge is to produce an ever greater number of variants and models of a product in variable quantities. One cause of this is the increased degree of customization in the automotive industry, for example.

In the future, the matrix production concept will enable extremely versatile production on an industrial scale and networked throughout the entire process chain. The system can automatically convert itself “on the fly” to changing product types – without wait times and without lost production time. It will thus become possible to implement the manufacture of customized series as an integral part of Industrie 4.0 without limitations in the context of industrial mass production.

The autonomously navigating AGVs can pick up and transport the different workpieces or tools using individually configurable load handling attachments. Logistics processes and production are separated from one another in matrix production – a central requirement of Industrie 4.0. This concept means that with variable parts logistics the system is always able to respond flexibly to peaks and to divert to other cells.

It can also involve additional cells or remove cells from the process. The value creation chain is not interrupted. The logistics processes are logically linked to production by means of software.

With the concept of highly flexible matrix production, KUKA is systematically fulfilling the requirements of Industrie 4.0 in industrial manufacturing.