B/S/H/ Household appliances GmbH Bad Neustadt

B/S/H/ Hausgeräte GmbH vacuum cleaners are in use in households all over the world: More than 9,000 appliances of different models and colors come off the production line at the Bad Neustadt factory every day, and a total of 2 million are sold worldwide every year.

The company responded to a decline in production volume for its most important product group by automating and digitizing the production of its vacuum cleaner blowers and large multi-component plastic parts. The focus was on using Industry 4.0 technologies to implement flexible, competitive and sustainable production “Made in Germany”.

In the course of the restructuring, horizontal and vertical integration took place across several stations of the value streams: From ordering the raw materials to booking the completion of a vacuum cleaner, many processes were automated and the machines, the transport via Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs), and the products themselves were networked with each other. Essential information such as machine and process parameters is recorded and stored by a cloud solution.

Data on event-based information and the status of the autonomously controlled plants is now available at any time. All information can also be visualized quickly and comprehensibly on dashboards according to the user’s needs. However, the plant uses the technologies not only to continuously improve processes, but also to collect data that simplify energy management and, for example, reduce the values for water and heating consumption in the production halls.

The company uses several technologies to provide the information required from the collected data, depending on the application goal and field of use. Smartwatches inform employees about for instance machine settings – and data glasses are used for remote maintenance and training. In addition, a digital twin supports the work of product designers.

All process steps and relevant parameters of the material flow are recorded. This allows, among other things, the cycle times during injection molding to be autonomously adjusted to the downstream production process to ensure a stable quality level. In addition, each product is provided with a QR code via which it can be traced throughout its entire life cycle.

The energy efficiency of production is monitored around the clock and continuously improved. Energy management at the plant follows a holistic approach and uses Industry 4.0 technologies such as the “Siemens PAC”, a sensor that records energy data as for instance the power consumption of the plants.