Industry 4.0 Value Creation for Automated Press Hardening Production Lines

Abstract: Industry’s technologies and equipment continuously advance, and the importance of continuously being able to produce increases. Todays’s automotive industry is a competitive market where efficiency is critical to keeping market shares. However, the quality of the products can not be compromised. Therefore new technologies are introduced to collect data and analyze it to optimize production. One technology that is often mentioned in the industry is Industry 4.0, which is a combination of multiple technologies that can be implemented to create smart factories and smart manufacturing. This thesis aims to evaluate implementable solutions for Industrial Internet of Things(IIoT) and Cyber-physical production systems (CPPS). Regarding which generates the most value for companies that uses press hardening production lines. The aim is also to compare IIoT against current data acquisition and control systems on the market. Identifying possible solutions and evaluating them have gone through multiple stages, while using product development methodology. Firstly by observing and understanding how customers use the products and identifying potential problems associated with the manufacturing process. Using that knowledge and, through iterations, improve the solutions and validate them by being evaluated by the customers. The project results concluded in having identified 17 possible general solutions that have been evaluated. These can be categorised as Performance, Costs, or Predictive maintenance. The solutions that created the most value for the customers were pressure and vibration analysis. For implementation of data acquisition and control system, Industrial Internet of Things is advantageous compared to current systems. This is due to a more streamlined architecture and choices of protocols available. In the end, by analysing all the data, including the information received from the interviewees, the desirable solution includes detailed machine health monitoring and a system that ensures product quality.