Industry 4.0 – It’s Easy! Apps help save material and energy

Applying and combining digitalized technologies in industrial production can contribute to a significant increase in company resource efficiency. The film Industry 4.0 – It’s Easy! illustrates two examples of how smartphone and tablet apps are easily integrated into an existing company process, contributing greatly to material and energy reduction.

Such is the case at the iron foundry Kemptener Eisengiesserei Adam Hönig AG in the Allgau region, Bavaria. There are many manual steps to be taken when casting forms, each having an impact on the cast quality. To ensure production excellence each step of the way, barcodes are scanned into tablets and transmitted to an app that follows each individual process. The goal is to determine precisely the amount of metal to be melted for a specific cast, attaining an optimal molding sand to smelting ratio. Thus, a great deal of material and energy are saved. This production innovation is funded by the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (German Federal Environmental Association) and scientifically guided by the Kempten Technical College.

Cooper Standard Automotive in Swabian Schelklingen also applies an app to reducing energy consumption. The company, located in the Swabian Alb, produces brake lines for the automobile industry. To this end, compressed air is sent through a one-kilometer long conduit, serving 150 machines. To track down leakages where the air escapes the conduit, the company implements a special ultra-sound microphone. When leakage is discovered, a technician marks the spot with a QR code, scanning it into the tablet. The app transmits data covering the precise leak location, the amount of air escaping and the materials required for repairs to Mader GmbH & Co. KG, where it is centrally stored. The app informs technicians not only of the leak’s exact location in the production line, its dimensions and repair costs, it also calculates how much energy the company will save upon repair.



Further information on Kemptener Eisengiesserei Adam Hönig AG:
http://www.kemptener-eisengiesserei.de

Further information on Mader GmbH & Co. KG:
http://www.mader.eu

Further information on Cooper Standard Automotive:
http://www.cooperstandard.com

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All about resource efficiency:
http://www.ressource-deutschland.de

Commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety