Aerial ladders made in Karlsruhe
P I VOTA L P O I N TS
Connected production Rosenbauer turntable ladders are manufactured at the group plant in Karlsruhe on one of the world’s most modern fire service aerial production lines. This line provides the clocking for the entire plant and all the up- and downstream work phases in the value added chain are subordinated to it. Digital assistance systems and logistical solutions (keyword Industry 4.0) support the production team, which can thus work without interruption and produce the very highest quality.
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P I VOTA L P O I N TS
Like the underbody, every component is quality checked before being delivered to the assembly line.
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P I VOTA L P O I N TS
The horizontal-vertical support frame is installed.
Connection of the turntable ladder with the chassis electronics on the motherboard.
The turntable check (carriage and main control unit) at the quality gate.
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verything begins long before the first ladder rung is welded, or the first bolt on the turntable is tightened. Because the production of a Rosenbauer aerial ladder commences as soon as a fire service has decided to buy and the delivery date has been fixed. For like a busy airport with high traffic levels, where every aircraft is allocated a time window within which it must be prepared for takeoff, the Karlsruhe plant has strict time slot planning for its aerial ladder production.
A BEATING HEART Main assembly is the central process around which all other activities are centered and this raises questions such as to the points in time when the chassis has to be available and the extinguishing technology installed. Moreover, the date by which the customized components must be finished, in order that they can be delivered precisely at the moment stated on the assembly sequence schedule. Main assembly in Karlsruhe is supplied on a just-in-time and just-in-sequence basis. All the required parts are called up automatically from the pre-production areas using the pull principle. In turn, the pre-assembly teams know exactly when and which components have to be delivered and punctually obtain the materials required from stores and suppliers. Therefore, the Karlsruhe plant functions like a beating heart that constantly pulsates.
DIGITAL NETWORKING Production is digitally linked with the peripheral processes and the assembly team has access to all the data collated by the sales, design and logistics departments. It employs the 04
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P I VOTA L P O I N TS
ď °â€‚ The turntable is mounted onto the underbody.
terminals as operative tools, in order to gather information about item lists, design drawings, working instructions and work standards. The testing infrastructure at the Karlsruhe plant is also connected. Procedures are standardized and the tests logged electronically for storage in a database. Then, following a positive result, the parts examined are released automatically. This system offers transparent proof of quality along the entire value added chain and ensures that only components that have been checked with regard to their function and quality are passed on within the production area. Networking also plays a major role with regard to materials supply. This takes place according to the Kanban principle with direct deliveries to the various assembly points, a largely automated refilling cycle and close supplier links via a web portal. All in all, Rosenbauer aerial production in Karlsruhe is backed by a very lean organization with a sizeable percentage of self-management.
AERIAL LADDER PRODUCTION All aerial ladders are manufactured on a single line and with the exception of the chassis every one of the components used is provided as a ready-to-install module. The underbody, support frame and turntable provide the start and are assembled in separate pre-production areas from where they are lifted onto the line. However, prior to this they must pass the Rosenbauer quality gates, where they are subjected to a thorough examination. Rosenbauer
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P I VOTA L P O I N TS
Wedding of the ladder set with the turntable.
QUALITY CONTROLS FROM A-Z In-process quality controls constitute a major element in Rosenbauer’s production philosophy. Therefore, quality gates are also installed on the main assembly line, for example downstream of the hydraulic system working area. As soon as the turntable has been mounted and the hydraulic lines have been laid and connected, start-up and a check for leakages are carried out. The same procedure is then repeated following the wedding of the ladder set with the turntable and during the mounting of the rescue cage.
The interior fittings of the equipment compartments and driver’s cab are added in stationary workstations.
The electronic components and the control software are also checked in the course of assembly and all functions are subjected to further testing at the end of production, this time in operational mode. For example, the cage stops and hence the precision with which it can be guided are examined and set on a separate arrester tower.
PODIUMS, CHESTS AND PANELS During the next phase, the underbody is connected to the podium, which is a walk-on deck. In order to provide protection against falls, the design edge is equipped with a circumferential LED strip. Once the podium is in place, the panels for the underbody and supports can be fitted. These are then disassembled and sent to the paint shop where they await installation at the end of the assembly process.
EXTINGUISHING TECHNOLOGY AND CABLING Should a Rosenbauer aerial be upgraded to form a multifunctional vehicle, the next production phase sees the integration of the truck’s extinguishing technology components. Like all the other ready-to-install modules, the pump has been cabled and is connected to the motherboard in the cockpit, where all the aerial’s electronics meet.
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P I VOTA L P O I N TS
Fine tuning of the ladder set hydraulics.
The rescue cage complete with controls, water line and lighting, etc. is preassembled.
On the line, the cage merely needs to be mounted and connected.
INDUSTRY 4.0 AT THE KARLSRUHE PLANT Rosenbauer works constantly on improvements to its in-house processes and apart from CA applications and lean management methods also employs the latest technology from the Industry 4.0 area.
THE LADDER SET AND RESCUE CAGE
Some examples:
Subsequently, the installation of the ladder set is on the agenda. It is manufactured on an auxiliary line, in what at present is still a purely manual process. In future however, the individual ladder segments will be welded together by robots. The rescue cage is then attached to the ladder set and connected with the result that main assembly has largely been completed.
THE INTERIOR FITTINGS AND PROGRAMMING The installation of the interior fittings, the mounting of the payload fixtures and the equipping of the driver’s cab take place in stationary workstations. Finally, the software is installed and the aerial provided with customized programming, prior to the repeated operational testing of all functions. After a final quality release, the aerial ladder is then ready for the handover to the customers.
■ Assembly cockpits Assembly cockpits are demand-oriented interfaces which link the production teams with the Rosenbauer IT world. Order-related and production data of relevance to the respective workstation can be called up on the terminals, which means that personnel always have the latest information regarding the aerial order. ■ Q uality
gates The quality gates are intelligent, connected production test stands. All the main parts of an aerial, from the turntable to the rescue cage, as well as the pumps and other extinguishing technology components, must must go through a quality gate before being passed on in production or installed. ■ Kanban logistics Kanban logistics ensure the optimum supply of materials to Karlsruhe production. The parts are assembled in line with orders and then delivered directly to the production storage points. This also applies to external logistics partners. Refill orders, especially for small parts containers, are generated via bar codes and RFID chips (under development).
Robot applications Karlsruhe is currently examining the possibilities for the robot-aided production of the ladder set and the initial results with the new welding robot are highly promising. In addition, an automated guided vehicle system for internal materials transport is undergoing testing. ■
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Rosenbauer Karlsruhe GmbH & Co. KG Carl-Metz-StraĂ&#x;e 9 76185 Karlsruhe, Germany E-mail: aerials@rosenbauer.com www.rosenbauer.com Photos: C-STUMMER photography