Objectives

Unlike large enterprises, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) normally do not have sufficient staff to plan or programme production sites with industrial robots. In addition, they depend on coordination with their plant suppliers when making changes in manufacturing processes or doing maintenance work. This leads to downtimes and additional costs. For this reason, SMEs often forego the use of industrial robots. This situation can be improved by the introduction of new internet-based tools and work procedures. In this case, the presence of specially trained personnel on site is no longer necessary. Instead, SMEs can access the necessary know-how via the internet. In the EU-CRAFT Project »SME – Robotics Support Inter-Network« (SME-ROSIN), concepts, methods and tools for cooperative networks of SMEs are developed. In these cooperative SME-networks, all know-how with regard to planning, programming and reprogramming as well as production site maintenance for manufacture with industrial robots is available and can, to a large extent, be provided by internet services.

Approach

Within the scope of the project, new organizational structures and corresponding software is being developed. For that purpose, already existing tools are used and new ones are being developed by the participating enterprises and institutes to introduce new work procedures, organizational processes and internet services. The project partners have established an exemplary SME-network used for the development in the project. It consists of end users, who bring their manufacturing and technical know-how to the table, a system integrator for planning, installation and maintenance of production sites with robots, suppliers, who tailors their components to the informational and technical conditions, as well as research institutes, which carry out the corresponding R&D work.

Results

The project, planned for a period of two years, was be completed in 2005. The result is a future oriented concept for the cooperation of SMEs via internet services. This has been succesfully demonstrated using a pilot installation.

Funding

This project is supported within the framework of the EU-CRAFT Project »SME Robotics Support Inter- Network« (SME ROSIN) under contract CRAFT IST-2001-55039.