Korean Automotive Company Upgrades Control System To Improve Production

This automotive company has major operations in Korea, with a fully integrated, state-of-the-art manufacturing plant that boasts advanced production, quality and testing capabilities.

The automotive space is undergoing constant changes in technology – and the disruption can be challenging. The new era of automotive manufacturing and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) requires rethinking how things like automobiles are made.

Trends in vehicle customization mean big changes on how automakers review their control systems, with accelerated refresh rates and portfolio shifts that affect manufacturers around the world.

Challenge

To accommodate those shifts, this Korean automotive manufacturer has to upgrade its aging control system to keep up with these demands, taking full advantage of the speed and variability that new technology offers to help boost productivity, enhance safety and reduce total costs.

This upgrade would help this manufacturer increase efficiency and improve flexibility to get to market faster. In addition, the company could integrate Information Technology (IT) and Operations Technology (OT) for real-time information and analytics; increase machine builder coordination and workforce training; and improve local and remote support.

More choices for consumers also meant a more complex manufacturing environment, and with it comes the potential for inefficiencies, increased errors and costs. Especially in the paint shop, the company needed a solution that could better control process parameters, optimize the supply chain, improve quality consistency and meet standards.

Upgrading its control system was a particular challenge with tight deadlines and production schedules. An extended shutdown was not an option. Any changes requiring employees to learn different software versions and operating system compatibility issues would have to be addressed without causing delays.

Solution

This company selected the ControlLogix® system for its new control platform. ControlLogix uses a common control engine with a simple development environment to provide high performance in an easy-to-use environment.

Tight integration between the programming software, controller, and I/O modules reduces development time and cost at commissioning and during normal operation. Operators can perform standard and safety control in the same chassis for a truly integrated system, and leverage the high availability and extreme environment capabilities to meet different application needs.

ControlLogix provides ease of migration from existing and outdated systems. Rather than a full and extended shutdown that could impact the entire network, Rockwell Automation® was able to plan and execute a regularly scheduled, partial shutdown with no impact on the network. Each main conveyor panel was commissioned individually on the regular plant shutdown day, avoiding any impact on the production schedules.

Results

As a result of upgrading to ControlLogix, this company experiences significant benefits, including:

• Converting local I/O to remote I/O reduces field wiring and mean time to repair (MTTR).
• Converting from a low speed DH+/RIO network to a high-speed Ethernet network improves speed of communications and reduces troubleshooting time from approximately 10 minutes to one minute or less.
• ControlLogix text-based file addressing system allows operators to update programs easily.
• Use of ControlLogix 1756-L71 controllers reduces inventory needs for various controllers, and improves inventory management.
• Using RSView®32™ integrated, component-based HMI for monitoring and controlling automation machines and processes improves fault monitoring and display, helping to reduce MTTR.
• The Studio 5000® environment combines engineering and design elements into one standard framework that optimizes productivity and reduces commissioning time.

The results mentioned above are specific to this customer’s use of Rockwell Automation products and services in conjunction with other products. Specific results may vary for other customers.

CompactLogix, RSView 32, Rockwell Automation and Studio 5000 are trademarks of Rockwell Automation Inc. Trademarks not belonging to Rockwell Automation are property of their respective companies.