With the flexible cell production “flexCell”, IPO.Plan GmbH was awarded first runner-up at the award ceremony for the “Best Assembly Idea” 2019 – the idea behind it: Instead of fixed assembly lines, production takes place in flexible cells. What is revolutionary is that the worker does not wait for the product, but the product waits for the worker. Now it has been proven for the first time that efficiency can be noticeably increased in this way.
The flexCell was nominated for the “Best Assembly Idea 2019” award by an expert judging panel and was presented to the expert audience at the 30th German Assembly Congress on May 22, 2019 in Fürstenfelde near Munich. “We are very pleased that the concept of assembly in flexible cells impressed the judges.” Said Tobias Herwig, Head of Sales and Marketing for IPO.Plan GmbH. He was very pleased about the first runner-up designation.
As part of a study, IPO.Plan GmbH developed an algorithm that calculates the optimum occupancy of the cells and thus maximizes the utilization of assembly staff. In the IPO.Log software, the classic assembly line is rescheduled and simulated and compared to production in flexible cells. With success: Increased worker utilization, decreased labor costs and as a further plus point, line downtime is now a thing of the past. It is worth mentioning that flexible cell production is not just a theoretical construct but is already being used for the second time in customer projects.
The first runner-up award confirms the importance of flexibility in logistics and production in practice. The increasing complexity and individualization of products requires a flexibilization of assembly and logistics processes. These challenges can be mastered with flexible cells. “We are breaking down barriers with the idea of flexible cell production”, emphasizes Matthias Kellermann, CEO, IPO.Plan GmbH.
Further information on the topic of flexible cell production can be found at www.flexcell.info