Production processes are very complex. Especially in the automotive industry, many individual departments are involved and they all need to work closely together. In order to increase the performance and reduce costs, it’s more important than ever to focus on efficient workflows.
The logistics within the plant plays a crucial part here. Production materials need to be lifted and moved from A to B with forklifts. Very often, vehicles take suboptimal or even unsafe routes, causing longer production time and other issues.
In this case study we will show you how we helped Magna Steyr, a big contract manufacturer for automobiles, optimize the intra-logistic through real-time live tracking of their vehicles.
The result was a 30% saving of intra-logistic costs, increased safety and higher efficiency for their route-finding.
Initial Situation: A Big Forklift Fleet With High Costs
At their manufacturing plant in Graz, Austria, Magna Steyr develops and assembles automobiles for other companies on a contractual basis.
Initially, the company’s forklift fleet consisted of 550 vehicles. As one forklift costs the company around 200,000 Euros per year for the vehicle itself and the three man shift that is necessary to operate it, Magna Steyr was investing a high amount on intra-logistic costs.
Desired Situation: Reducing Costs by Finding Out Whether All Forklifts Are Really Needed
With our help, Magna Steyr wanted to get answers on the following questions:
- Is the forklift fleet working efficiently?
- Are all of the 550 forklifts really necessary?
- Do they use the predefined routes?
Our goal was to create a tracking solution for forklifts to answer the questions above and to evaluate whether there was a way to reduce intra-logistic costs.
Our Approach: Implementing Our Forklift Tracking Solution Insider Workforce 4.0
We created our forklift tracking solution as part of our Insider Workforce 4.0 service and implemented it on-site. So here is what we did:
Applying Our INS-Markers – In the first step, we placed our own markers in specific areas of the plant.
Equipping Forklifts With our AR Camera Setup – Each forklift was then provided with a camera system that scans and registers the square markers in the system once a forklift passes them. Additional sensors, for example for fork-position measurement were also installed.
Retrieving Valuable Information – After interpreting the data, the forklifts’ exact location can be retrieved via the software, allowing everybody using our system to gain insights to real-time status of all vehicles and production performance.
Outcome: Our Forklift Tracking Solution Lead to a Reduction of Over 30% of Intra-logistic Costs
Thanks to our solution, Magna Steyr can now track and trace where their forklifts are located within the plant, the routes that they take, and if they are being used efficiently.
Heatmaps and spaghetti plots show exactly where traffic jams are forming and which predefined routes don’t work as planned. By analyzing the data, it’s now possible to easily improve routes and optimize workflows as required.
This way, 30% of forklifts were dispensed!
As not only the forklifts themselves are expensive but also they require three person shifts to be operated, a reduction of the fleet can immensely reduce costs. With only around 385 forklifts instead of initially 550, the company is able to save about 33 Million Euros per year thanks to our solution – maintaining the same level of productivity and output!
To optimize the picking and placing process, we are currently working on a solution that assigns an order to the closest available forklift nearby. This way empty trips can be eliminated and even more time can be saved.
The Main Benefits of an Asset Tracking Solution:
These are the main benefits of an asset tracking solution for manufacturers:
- Valuable Insights – After implementing the hardware and software, you can retrieve valuable information on how you can improve your workflows.
- More Efficiency – By continuously improving internal workflows, you will make the overall manufacturing processes more efficient while keeping good oversight at all times.
- Cost Reduction – As a result. faster and more efficient workflows will lead to reduced costs, helping you to stay competitive in your market.
Try Our Live Forklift Tracking Solution Now And Step Up Your Production Efficiency
Our asset tracking solution has been specifically designed for manufacturers and production sites.
After many years in the industry we know exactly what our clients need:
Excellent software solutions paired with the full support from an implementation expert.
Our Insider Workforce 4.0 is an AR-based full-service solution that covers everything you need – from defective management to asset tracking.
You won’t only get excellent software, but also the help from someone who will do the implementation for you, on-site, to ensure you get the best results.
Since our AR-based asset tracking solution does not need an expensive, hardware-heavy setup, you can get started with little investment and very quick time of implementation.
Our partners are distributed all over the world, enabling us to implement the entire technical infrastructure for you. The setup and implementation is fast and easy. It works both online and offline.
Interested In Seeing Our Forklift Tracking Software In Action? Book Your Free Demo Session Now!
Want to find out more? Schedule an appointment for a personal demo session or reach out using our contact form to see what our asset tracking software is capable of!