Carl Zeiss Industrielle Messtechnik GmbH

Connected measuring technology for smart factory of tomorrow

Increasing productivity and efficiency in the car body construction industry remains the main goal, and this will not change in the smart factory of tomorrow. Measuring and inspection technology will stay at the heart of the industry with smart data playing an important role in the production process.

Industrial quality analysis is required at all stages of the production chain to ensure errors are detected and resolved within a short period of time with almost no negative impact.

In industry 4.0 measuring and inspection technology is not only about quality control; it should also cover extensive data analysis in order to focus only on relevant insights and essential data points in the production process, in the measurement room and in-between.

In-line: 100% inspection in the production line

Quality inspection must keep up with the fast-paced and highly automated car body industry. One of the most important factors of industry 4.0 is 100% inspection of the car body construction process.

ZEISS Automated Inspection boasts decades of experience in optical 3D and 2D measuring technology, as well as in robot guidance. ZEISS 3D in-line sensors are among the most widely used in car body construction. Robot-guided optical sensors measure and inspect all parts without interrupting the production cycle, enabling maximum flexibility and meeting customer requirements.

The quality of selected characteristics is then evaluated in real time, visually, showing data sequences and trends, and making it possible to outline the errors in a record time. In order to achieve this, high precision and image resolution from measuring technology are needed, enabling the production of high-quality data even under tough production conditions, such as fluctuating temperatures and various dust levels.

Hence, ZEISS in-line quality inspection opens new horizons for using quality data in a smart factory.

Measuring data 4.0

The smart use and networking of all types of process data offers great potential for quality improvements and increased efficiency. In this regard, the requirements for IT structures and software are also growing.

ZEISS supports car body manufacturers with a holistic networked service offering. Measuring data results will become the decisive factor of industry 4.0 for car body construction, making it possible to modify the processes according to comprehensive data analysis.

Nowadays it is still the employee who analyses the evaluations provided by ZEISS PiWeb central software and decides whether some parameters need to be adjusted or not. This will certainly change in the future by allowing the software to initiate the adjustments without any human interaction. This is entirely in line with self-regulating production in the factory of tomorrow.

At-line: Coordinate measuring technology close to production

Increasing demands on flexibility and productivity also affect quality assurance. That is why there is a need to use robot-guided optical measuring systems closer to the production line to enable more frequent random sampling inspection.

The entire surface of the car body part can be digitised and then analysed with measuring technology, immediately providing involved employees with measuring results.

By using random sampling, the technology has all the potential to deliver data in a very quick and efficient manner with exact measurements of a particular car body part, its form, position tolerances and actual freeform surface compared to an initial CAD model.

At-line systems are aimed at reducing time and effort in the measuring room and delivering real-time data next to the production line in the car body industry in addition to 100% in-line measurement technology.

Off-line: Coordinate measuring technology in the measuring room

Coordinate measuring technology in the measuring room is still part of the day-to-day operations of car body construction. The highest precision level and comprehensive analysis could only be achieved as part of off-line measuring technology.

ZEISS off-line portfolio ranges from fixtures to flexibly configurable measuring machines, optical and contact sensors, measurement and quality data software, up to a global service offering based on requirements and conditions at the customer’s site. 

To maximise precision and productivity of the off-line measurements, ZEISS now offers ZEISS CALENO – a horizontal arm machine aimed at replacing conventional horizontal arm machines by introducing the new generation combining tactile and optical sensors.

The new generation, called Hambot, represents one measuring system for different measuring tasks and enables up to 85% time savings due to the availability of the optical sensor. Maximum versatility and the highest performance capabilities are what sets ZEISS CALENO Hambot apart.

Measuring data 4.0

The smart use and networking of all types of process data offers great potential for quality improvements and increased efficiency. In this regard, the requirements for IT structures and software are also growing.

ZEISS supports car body manufacturers with a holistic networked service offering. Measuring data results will become the decisive factor of industry 4.0 for car body construction, making it possible to modify the processes according to comprehensive data analysis.

Nowadays it is still the employee who analyses the evaluations provided by ZEISS PiWeb central software and decides whether some parameters need to be adjusted or not. This will certainly change in the future by allowing the software to initiate the adjustments without any human interaction. This is entirely in line with self-regulating production in the factory of tomorrow.