B&R launches new Mass Customization system

At the SPS IPC Drives trade fair to be held in Nuremberg from 28 to 30 November 2017, B&R will be presenting a new product that will dramatically simplify mass customization. The product will be unveiled at an event to be held at the B&R booth (Hall 7, Booth 206) on 28 November at 9:30 AM and broadcast live around the world on YouTube.

“The kind of individualized mass production we’ll see in the future will be characterized by near real-time processing of online orders,” explains Robert Kickinger, mechatronic technologies manager at B&R. “But to ensure sustained high quality, lines must be able to react to faults and defects in real time - without compromising the production process. Defective products need to be rejected on the spot, while maintaining full production speed.”

Mass Customization, a recently developed process in which customized goods can be produced under industrial conditions while satisfying the individual tastes of each consumer, has been hailed as the next step forward in the field of digitalization and Industry 4.0 but has not yet been optimized in terms of OEE (overall equipment effectiveness), TTM (time to market) and ROI, the main economic factors underpinning all manufacturing operations. In this scenario, plant manufacturers must maximize production flexibility in keeping with the latest developments in manufacturing, but packaging must also do its part to fit in with the new customized manufacturing trend. “The concept holds true both for the product and the way it is packaged, something that is simply not possible on a conventional line,” concluded Kickinger.