Europe's largest aerospace group Airbus relies on state-of-the-art intralogistics from Montratec for the assembly of the new A321 XLR long-haul aircraft. The Baden-Württemberg company from Niedereschach (Black Forest-Baar district) was able to convince Airbus with its technology for process optimization in intralogistics. With the intelligent monorail and shuttle transport system Montrac, Montratec offers the necessary intralogistics 4.0 solutions for process automation and the autonomous networking of robots and workstations within the company. For Montratec, the order represents an international breakthrough of this importance and magnitude and the largest order in the company's history.

Airbus has built its own equipment assembly hangar for the new A321 XLR long-haul aircraft at the Hamburg-Finkenwerder site. Several A321 XLR fuselages will be assembled in parallel in the 38-metre-high new XLR hangar. To optimize the process, Airbus relies on a tailor-made Montrac intralogistics system for extensive and individualized automation of the material flow from the warehouse (sequencer) to the individual workstations.

The Montrac shuttles, which were specially developed for Airbus, transport autonomously controlled small load carriers on a branched monorail track around one kilometer long. This connects the sequencer with two assembly platforms, to which 13 double-decker workstations are connected. For optimum use of space, part of the monorail transport route also runs underground through a tunnel in which the Montrac system is mounted under the ceiling.

Manual intervention reduced to a minimum

Each work station consists of two decks, each with four access levels, divided into electrical, mechanical, hydraulic and empties return, which are controlled autonomously by the shuttles as required. The loading of the Montrac shuttles with small load carriers at the sequencer, the transport to the assembly platforms and work stations as well as the delivery to the respective access levels as required and the return of the empty small load carriers are fully automated. The vertical transport of the shuttles to the assembly platforms, work stations, decks and access levels as well as the return of the empty containers is carried out reliably via numerous Montrac lifts. This means that manual work is only required when removing the small load carriers and returning the empties to the work stations and for returning the empties to the sequencer (compact warehouse).

"With our intelligent, flexible and energy-efficient Montrac rail and transport shuttle system, we ensure a highly efficient, automated and extremely energy-saving supply of materials between the warehouse and the individual work stations at Airbus in Hamburg-Finkenwerder," explains Sven Worm, CEO of montratec. Thanks to the intelligent high-tech control system, each transport shuttle knows its exact position and transport destination and thus brings the right small load carriers to the right access level or back to the sequencer at the right time. And all this with maximum system availability, because if a shuttle breaks down, it can be individually removed from the running system or replaced at any time without stopping the system. Thanks to the intelligent control system, even a replaced transport shuttle immediately knows its original transport destination.

High energy efficiency - low space requirement

"In addition to the small footprint and reliability of the Montrac system, the high energy efficiency due to the minimal power consumption was particularly important for Airbus. Compared to other systems, which usually run continuously, the low-voltage drives of the Montrac shuttles only require electricity during the journey and leave a minimal_{CO2 footprint}. This results in a significant energy saving potential," emphasizes Worm.

The modular transfer system consists of a modular aluminum monorail system with integrated conductor rail, on which the Montrac shuttles specially developed for Airbus operate autonomously and independently cover the optimal route to the respective transport destination. The flexible and space-saving configuration allows a customized individual system layout, including the integration of buffer zones, transport over several floors and under the ceiling. In addition, the system can be adapted to changed process sequences and expanded at any time. The length and width of the shuttles can also be individually adapted to the needs of Airbus and the goods to be transported.

Use in the automotive industry

The Montrac transfer system is used in industrial companies around the world - including by many leading car manufacturers. The vibration-free high-tech transport systems from the Black Forest are particularly in demand for the production of headlights, doors, door locks and car seats. Further growth is to be generated primarily through product innovations and the increased internationalization of the business model.

"With the intelligent monorail and shuttle transport system Montrac, Montratec has specialized in innovative, individual solutions for networking and digital process automation from cross-industry intralogistics 4.0 processes to cleanrooms. With this major project at Airbus, we are underlining the individual application possibilities of Montrac for optimizing complex manufacturing processes and demonstrating the next level of digitally controlled intralogistics solutions," explains Worm.