- Automation of the picking process through Pick-by-Light
- Hardware and software from a central source
- High-quality, durable system
Pick-by-light system complements customer's MES
Advantages at a glance
As a leading manufacturer and service provider in the pumps and valves sector, KSB SE & Co. KGaA provides "engineering that moves". More than 15,000 employees worldwide cover the range of applications from building services and industrial engineering to water transport, waste water treatment and power plant processes. Automation and additive manufacturing are further, rather younger fields of activity of the company. At its site in Pegnitz, KSB has been using a pick-by-light system from the system electronics provider microSYST for a year now to make the workflow at its assembly workstations more efficient.
Stable link with MES via software tool
80 pick displays ensure proper order and flowing processes at eight assembly stations. Each workstation has its own so-called supermarket, which contains everything from small parts to screws and bolts, as well as exactly the material that is to be used in the respective assembly step. The mipick MP 20 pick displays used show the quantity of assembly parts to be picked. To ensure that all parts have been installed, the employee can use the integrated confirmation function. The smooth interaction between the pick display and the customer's MES (Manufacturing Execution System) is ensured by a software tool that microSYST developed itself and modulated specifically for the customer - this "marries" the impulse from the MES with the correct output on the display. The communication between the MES and the pick display control takes place via a configured standard interface, whereby the picking process is fully automated. This is made possible by the smart software from microSYST, which ensures a simple and permanently stable connection to the MES.
Customer-specific, quality- and cost-conscious
The experiences with the system have been consistently positive - both from the responsible engineers and the assembly staff. "The look, feel and quality of the picking system are completely convincing in daily use. No failures - neither on the hardware nor on the software side," Johannes Deinzer, Digital Expert at KSB in Pegnitz, says enthusiastically. The modular design and the diverse configuration allow microSYST to produce a customer-specific and yet cost-conscious design even for smaller quantities, such as the 80 pick displays delivered here.
