Kepware (PTC) Case Studies IoT Gateway Enables Faurecia to Improve Traceability for Customers

	IoT Gateway Enables Faurecia to Improve Traceability for Customers Kepware (PTC)

IoT Gateway Enables Faurecia to Improve Traceability for Customers

Kepware (PTC)

Technology Category	Functional Applications - Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) Networks & Connectivity - Gateways Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Connectivity Platforms
Applicable Industries	Automotive
Applicable Functions	Discrete Manufacturing
Use Cases	In-process Traceability
Challenge	While Faurecia has a long track record of providing its customers with exemplary products, the increasing need to provide customers traceability for the parts it was producing motivated the company to further support these efforts. The large automotive OEMs expected Faurecia to be able to both track the process of operations and production and to make that information available on demand. For example, customers wanted to know which airbags were added to which cars, as well as detailed data characteristics about how each airbag was installed, including torque and angle of installation. Read More
About Customer	Founded in 1997, Faurecia is one of the largest international automotive parts manufacturers in the world and has grown to become a major player in the global Automotive Industry. Read More
Customer Name	Faurecia Read More
Solution	Faurecia turned to Kepware’s flagship connectivity platform, KEPServerEX, and began a pilot project in their Porto Real, Brazil factory. The company was familiar with the solution, having used KEPServerEX for a number of years to connect PLCs on the plant floor to IJ Core, Faurecia’s proprietary parts fabrication and Manufacturing Execution System (MES) via the OPC DA protocol. Using OPC DA to broker communications was complicated and becoming increasingly antiquated. The company considered replacing its OPC DA communications with OPC UA, which—though more modern—proved to be even more complex and required time and resources for implementation. After learning more about Faurecia’s goals, Kepware representatives were able to recommend that Faurecia implement the REST Server Agent in the IoT Gateway for KEPServerEX. Read More Log in to view content
Data Collected	Communication Performance, Operating Time, Process Procedure, Production Efficiency, Traceable Parts Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Functional Applications - Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES)

Networks & Connectivity - Gateways

Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Connectivity Platforms

Applicable Industries

Automotive

Applicable Functions

Discrete Manufacturing

Use Cases

In-process Traceability

Challenge

While Faurecia has a long track record of providing its customers with exemplary products, the increasing need to provide customers traceability for the parts it was producing motivated the company to further support these efforts. The large automotive OEMs expected Faurecia to be able to both track the process of operations and production and to make that information available on demand. For example, customers wanted to know which airbags were added to which cars, as well as detailed data characteristics about how each airbag was installed, including torque and angle of installation.

About Customer

Founded in 1997, Faurecia is one of the largest international automotive parts manufacturers in the world and has grown to become a major player in the global Automotive Industry.

Customer Name

Faurecia

Solution

Faurecia turned to Kepware’s flagship connectivity platform, KEPServerEX, and began a pilot project in their Porto Real, Brazil factory. The company was familiar with the solution, having used KEPServerEX for a number of years to connect PLCs on the plant floor to IJ Core, Faurecia’s proprietary parts fabrication and Manufacturing Execution System (MES) via the OPC DA protocol. Using OPC DA to broker communications was complicated and becoming increasingly antiquated. The company considered replacing its OPC DA communications with OPC UA, which—though more modern—proved to be even more complex and required time and resources for implementation. After learning more about Faurecia’s goals, Kepware representatives were able to recommend that Faurecia implement the REST Server Agent in the IoT Gateway for KEPServerEX.

Data Collected

Communication Performance, Operating Time, Process Procedure, Production Efficiency, Traceable Parts

Impact #1	[Data Management - Data Transparency] Improved parts traceability throughout the entire manufacturing process, satisfying internal Faurecia stakeholders and the company’s customers
Impact #2	[Data Management - Connectivity Stability] Improved connectivity and speed of communication between factory floor machines and IJ Core, Faurecia’s proprietary MES
Impact #3	[Efficiency Improvement - Time To Market] Reduced development time, effort, and training

Impact #1

[Data Management - Data Transparency]
Improved parts traceability throughout the entire manufacturing process, satisfying internal Faurecia stakeholders and the company’s customers

Impact #2

[Data Management - Connectivity Stability]
Improved connectivity and speed of communication between factory floor machines and IJ Core, Faurecia’s proprietary MES

Impact #3

[Efficiency Improvement - Time To Market]
Reduced development time, effort, and training

Benefit #1	Faurecia was able to decrease its transparency project from a complicated 6-month scope to a functioning solution in just a couple of days.

Benefit #1

Faurecia was able to decrease its transparency project from a complicated 6-month scope to a functioning solution in just a couple of days.

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Overview

IoT Gateway Enables Faurecia to Improve Traceability for Customers

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit