advanced manufacturing program Robotic Spray Coating for high

advanced manufacturing program Robotic Spray Coating for high mix / low volume production environments October 2017

advanced manufacturing program Background: • Today, spray coating of high mix/low volume products at SMEs: • requires labour-intensive manual processes (preparation, planning, painting, …), • involves dirty, dull and strenuous tasks requiring protective clothing and mask, for which hardly skilled workers can be found • is heavily based on experience, lacking: • part specific work instructions, • control over thickness and process parameters (consistency), • quality control and assurance. • the planning, grouping of parts or individual part preparation is done ad-hoc, • by the same team who carries out the spray coating process, • based on personal experience and preference, • hardly integrated within the overall production system, lacking insight on: • the timing and outcome of previous production steps, • the impact on post-processing and subsequent production steps. • mainly oriented at maximizing spray coating efficiency, does not lead to optimal solutions for overall efficiency & quality October 2017

advanced manufacturing program Need. Automated spray coating is technically feasible/applied for high volume series, but practical shortcomings make automation economically uninteresting in a high mix/low volume production environment Multiple challenges to overcome: • Programming systems avoiding manual programming of the robotic system (i. e. automatic scanning/programming, learning/demonstrating, part recognition and rules, offline based on virtual model, …), • increase consistency over the process and assure first time right quality, • a planning integrated within the overall production system, • adaptive process control (parameters for optimal quality – min. energy, …) • combination with automated pretreatment and curing depending on requested coatings • efficient coating product switch for small series and parameter optimization for first time right Links to the SMART roadmap, i. e. : • Intelligent and adaptive manufacturing systems, for producing an increasing diversity of parts, merging virtual and real manufacturing. • Efficient automated painting control, with integrated quality measurement and control October 2017

advanced manufacturing program PROPOSAL INTRODUCTION (I) Vision: • Flexible robotic spray coating economically affordable for high mix / low volume production environments Motivation: • Keep customised painting of components in Europe • Economic affordable painting • Assured and consistent quality, “first time right” • Eliminate dirty/strenuous tasks Content: • Concept development of intelligent and adaptive manufacturing system, for painting an increasing diversity of parts, merging virtual and real manufacturing. • Develop / integrate technologies: • programming systems • Adaptive control & efficient automated painting control, with integrated quality assurance and control (e. g. thickness) October 2017

advanced manufacturing program PROPOSAL INTRODUCTION (II) Expected outcome: • Economic affordable, automated painting of individual components: • batch size 1, • consistent “first time right” quality, • health: eliminating strenuous tasks, protect operators against the influence of chemical agents • Optimized planning within overall production system: • avoiding reconfiguration / set-up times, • from “experience based” to “operator support” • Reduced environmental impact Impacts: what will be the expected market impact of the project • Affordable coating of customized products in Europe • Increased production output/throughput (without extra operators) • Reduced production cost • Reduction of environmental impact: • paint use (~20%) October 2017 • energy consumption (~15%)

advanced manufacturing program ORGANISATION PROFILE Sirris • 150 engineers • Mission: Support technological industry in bringing innovation into practice • www. sirris. be Sirris – Advanced Manufacturing • 40 engineers • Mission: Applied research on machining, automation, production organization, coatings & additive manufacturing October 2017

advanced manufacturing program PARTNERS Current Consortium: list of partners already involved in the project Sirris: • identification of challenges to industrialization (linked to SME requiring high mix/low volume production) • building working proof of concept • knowledge and infrastructure regarding robotic spray coating and 3 D scanning Partner search: - Manufacturing companies with high mix / low volume spray coating, SML enterprise, - Integrators, technology providers and manufacturers of production equipment for coating/painting, SML enterprise & research institutes October 2017

advanced manufacturing program CONTACT INFO Contact info: of the person coordinating the project proposal Pieter Kesteloot Pieter. Kesteloot@sirris. be Mobile: +32 498 919329 Jan Kempeneers jan. kempeneers@sirris. be Mobile: +32 498919485 October 2017