For many car manufacturers, 2030 will be the year in which the combustion engine is finally phased out and the focus will be exclusively on the sale of purely electric vehicles. In order to meet the current steadily growing demand for electric models, battery manufacturing companies in particular will be forced to expand their capacities and ensure continuous production. It is therefore more important than ever to automate internal material flows in order to guarantee safety, flexibility and quality in the long term. Not least in view of the fact that the majority of all automotive suppliers deliver "just in time" and production parts must be ready for delivery within a few minutes.

Around 1.5 years ago, the electromobility supplier approached the conveyor technology manufacturer HaRo Anlagen- und Fördertechnik from the Sauerland region with this request. In its inquiry, the company had already specifically defined the requirements for the new conveyor system: An interface is to be installed from production for onward transportation to the car manufacturer's final assembly line for transporting and storing steel pallets for the battery cells. With a maximum total weight of 21 tons, another special feature of the project is the load of the conveyed goods. Up to four pallets, each with a filling weight of one ton, are to be stacked on top of each other in the system.

Individual specifications

The Rüthen-based family business was ultimately able to meet these requirements with a comprehensive concept, as HaRo Group Design Manager Markus Löseke explains: "For our customer, we designed a system consisting of triplex heavy-duty chain conveyors and vertical conveyors with a hydraulic pallet stacking function. This combination, which was manufactured according to the individual specifications of the battery cell manufacturer, enables a fully automated material flow from production through to loading the truck: first, the battery-loaded steel pallets are loaded onto the triplex chain conveyor in front of the stacker using an automated guided vehicle (AGV). The hydraulic rack stacker, equipped with a double-strand triplex chain conveyor, enables up to four steel pallets to be stacked. Once the stacking process is complete, the four pallets are transported fully automatically along the approximately 22-metre-long conveyor to the truck transfer point. "The conveyor line consists of chain conveyors with particularly robust triplex chains that can easily withstand the high load of up to 5 pallet stacks with a total weight of 21 tons," says Markus Löseke from HaRo. In addition, the motors of the chain conveyors are equipped with frequency inverters, which can be used to individually adjust the transport speed of the steel pallets. "This ensures smooth, even and safe conveying," emphasizes the HaRo design manager.

At the end of the conveyor section, the pallet blocks are then automatically transferred to the truck loading bridge: With the help of the chain conveyors, the conveyed goods are moved smoothly into the truck trailer for onward transportation. "Here too, the conveyor speed is adapted to the speed of the conveyors in the truck trailer thanks to the frequency converters," says HaRo. However, it is not only the loading of the trucks that is carried out in the same way as described; the unloading of the empty pallets is also identical. Before being reloaded, the empty pallets are transferred fully automatically from the trailer to the parallel second conveyor line, which is connected via corner transfers, and run through the parallel path to the stacking point, where the steel pallets are then picked up by the AGV and transported back to production.

In view of the constantly growing demand for battery cells for electromobility, a smooth and reliable production process is a top priority for the Leipzig-based supplier. In order to be able to completely rule out a production stop, both conveyor lines are each equipped with two emergency organization stations for forklift trucks. "If the AGV should ever fail, the pallets can also be loaded manually with a forklift in an emergency," explains Markus Löseke about the background to the dual loading option. And should one of the two systems fail completely, both conveyor lines can operate in reverse mode and be used for both loading and unloading the trucks. If the batteries are not available at the car manufacturer in time, production comes to a standstill.

Process data is exchanged

In addition to preventing downtime in the age of Industry 4.0 and increasing digitalization, intelligent networking is also a top priority in this project. The system's process data, such as the system status or any error messages, are exchanged at any time via OPC UA. Light barriers, safety fences and personnel recognition also ensure maximum safety for employees.

While the system described has already been in use for almost a year, the automotive supplier is already planning to expand its existing systems, making use of an intelligent concept from the HaRo Group: thanks to the modular system, the systems from the Rüthen-based conveyor technology manufacturer can be flexibly expanded. An option that is currently more important than ever, especially for suppliers of electromobility. And so the Leipzig-based company is already in contact with the HaRo Group to implement a further chain conveyor system in order to maintain on-time delivery capability even during expected peak production figures and meet growing demand.

The article appeared in materialfluss 10/22.