Quiet, safe, and always at just the right speed: At Audi in Brussels, sophisticated MAXOLUTION® technology permits particularly flexible and ergonomic assembly of the new Audi e-tron electric vehicle fleet. Smooth, silent motion has taken the place of rigid cycle timing and rattling chain drives. This is made possible by perfect synchronization of all AGV frames and maximum safety.
Further information on Audi Brussels:
Modernization of the assembly lines during running production using individual MAXOLUTION® system solutions
Assembly process in a single, smooth motion:
Smooth motion, safe positioning, and a curved track like none ever seen in the industry: At Audi in Brussels, every step in the production of the e-tron electric car is perfectly synchronized – without rigid cycle times. Watch our video to find out for yourself what drives Audi's new assembly line and those responsible for it – and why SEW‑EURODRIVE is the ideal partner for the project.
A curved track like none ever seen in the industry
We've created a technology that has never existed in this weight class or in the industry: A dual-track, electrified monorail system for heavy loads with a curved track.
It took only four weeks to integrate 96 vehicles into the plant.
SEW‑EURODRIVE helped us greatly.
The MAXOLUTION® solutions from SEW‑EURODRIVE were a great help in our efforts to improve workplace ergonomics for our line workers. Now we're much more flexible. The work is more ergonomic, with the track being much quieter than the previous chain conveyor technology.
The ceiling was too low for a single-track electrified monorail system, so we had to install a lower, dual-track EMS instead. Not a standard solution.
Safe Distance Monitoring not only prevents collisions in the system, but also completely eliminates any risk of crushing for the employees.
Even during the design and engineering phase, SEW‑EURODRIVE was already on board. The cooperation worked very well.
We're not trying to be "fast followers" – we want to be trend setters.
When we get involved in a project, it's all or nothing. We take our requirements for modern production technologies one step further. So we depend on partners who can support and advise us in such processes. SEW‑EURODRIVE is that kind of partner, and we're proud of the cooperation we've established.
We decided to radically refit the Audi plant here in Brussels because as of 2018, we're producing the first fully electric SUV in the history of Audi: the Audi e-tron. An electric car, with all-new technology, requires entirely new plant systems, too.
Audi is developing ever further toward the smart factory. However, we are not able to meet these challenges alone. That's why we need highly capable partners such as SEW‑EURODRIVE.
Any downtime costs money and must be avoided. That's why we chose SEW‑EURODRIVE.
The systems are assembled according to drawings, but then they still need to be run in and tested. That's the strength of a company like SEW‑EURODRIVE. They deliver the quality in their solutions that we demand of our own products. Any interruption leads to downtime, and downtime costs a lot of money. That's to be avoided. That's another reason we chose SEW‑EURODRIVE.
Each electric SUV means we need to move 2.9 tons down the assembly line. One part is assembled on skids, while the other part is assembled on the carriers of the electrified monorail system. To suspend such heavy loads, we needed heavy-duty carriers. These carriers are controlled using systems developed by SEW‑EURODRIVE.
In the south-west of Brussels in September of 2018, everything was ready: The e-tron, the first completely electric vehicle of the Audi brand, went into mass production. At that moment, the famous car manufacturer with four interlocking rings in its logo heralded a new era – not just for the in-topic of electric mobility, but also for production. In one of the 19 districts of Brussels, called Forest in French and Vorst in Dutch, modernization of its assembly line brought forth the factory of the future.
Rigid cycle times? They're a thing of the past at Audi Brussels. Just like the electric vehicle promises a new future for mobility on the streets, our solution for mobility on the assembly line brings a new future to production: The entire process is a single smooth motion thanks to MAXOLUTION technology with smart control and networking from SEW‑EURODRIVE.
Depending on the requirements of the moment, the electrified monorail system carriers speed up or slow down in moving from point to point, acting in perfect harmony with the lifting stations and the skillets on the ground. The heavy car bodies quietly settle in front of the factory workers. No rattling chain drives punish the ears.
The challenge of implementing this exceedingly flexible and ergonomic production line couldn't have been greater. After all, the refitting of the assembly line had to be completed in parallel with the running production of the Audi A1.
During a transition period, the plant operated in mixed mode, assembling the two vehicle types alongside each other. Once production of the smaller A1 was moved to Martorell in Spain, Brussels became the main location for Audi's production of electric vehicles.
Rigid timing windows make a production line inflexible. Chain drives such as those still widely used in the industry generate an uncomfortable level of noise. Neither of these has a place anymore in Audi's plant in Brussels. There, Audi intends not only to herald a new era of mobility with its new fleet of electric vehicles but also to set new benchmarks for state-of-the-art, smart, networked production. "We're not trying to be 'fast followers' – we want to be trend setters," emphasizes Andreas Cremer, general secretary of Audi Brussels.
The objective of the refit was to create an extremely flexible, ergonomic production line of a kind unknown in the industry. The result is like a flawlessly executed choreography: The entire assembly process is now a single smooth motion, with the 96 carriers of the electrified monorail system in perfect concert with the lifting stations and the skillets on the floor.
No more high noise level: Instead, the heavy car bodies settle quietly and gently in front of the assembly workers. Protected by state-of-the-art safety technology, those workers are ideally integrated into the harmonious interplay of the line.
Smart communications partitioned into segments are what it's all about: At any given moment, every mobile transport unit and each carrier of the EMS knows exactly where it is in the plant and continually reports its state parameters to the stationary segment controllers. These controllers pass on the data to the superordinate PLCs. The PLCs can be used to dynamically adjust the running characteristics.
All this is made possible by intelligent MAXOLUTION® technology from SEW‑EURODRIVE. Together with the plant manufacturer and general contractor LogSystems from Schopfheim, Germany, our team from Bruchsal planned, installed and started up the system solution.
The usual solution for electrified monorail systems on assembly lines in the automotive industry involves a single track. But at 2.9 tons, the new electric SUV from Audi is well over twice as heavy as the 1.18-ton Audi A1. This vehicle, relatively lightweight in comparison, was previously produced in Brussels.
The ceiling of the assembly hall was not high enough to transport such heavy suspended loads. Thus the electrified monorail system for heavy loads is designed with a dual track.
The technical challenge of this lay in the fact that the carriers also had to pass around curves on the dual track. This was no easy task: Due to the wide spacing of the two tracks, the travel drive motors have to compensate for the differing lengths of the curved inner and outer tracks.
Using two gearmotors equipped with DRC.. electronic motors, and thanks to the "Electronic Differential" software function, the differing speeds on the inner and outer curves are perfectly coordinated. This perfect non-standard solution was created by the engineers of the MAXOLUTION® team in close cooperation with project partners on-site.
A special attribute of the flexible, smooth-moving assembly line at Audi Brussels is that no mechanical spacers between the carriers are necessary. Each carrier maintains a safe distance from its neighbors by virtue of unambiguous, safe position monitoring implemented using a DataMatrix barcode reader (PXV).
To this end, each of the 96 carriers is equipped with a controller from the MOVIPRO®series as well as a safety controller of the type MOVISAFE® HM31B. The HM31B uses the position data from the barcode reader to generate safety functions such as:
In 2016, the MAXOLUTION® safety function Safe Distance Monitoring (SDM®) won second prize at the coveted Handling Awards in the category "Quality and Safety". And this is what makes the new production line at Audi Brussels so extremely flexible. With its help, the EMS carriers always maintain exactly the right distance to ensure the safety of the plant workers. Even the curves are now usable for work stations.
Smooth motions without cycle times only work if the speed of the various transport units can be adjusted. At the Audi plant in Brussels, the carriers of the EMS move at speeds between one and 70 meters per minute, depending on the area and the requirements of the moment. At the assembly stations where the employees work, the units are limited to a safe speed of 15 meters per minute.
This wide range of speeds requires a wide speed setting range. It is made possible by the two travel drives in each carrier. The electronic motor used in each is of type DRC.., based on energy-efficient (IE4), decentralized synchronous servomotor technology (permanent magnets) with a setting range ratio of up to 1 to 2,000.
All of the MAXOLUTION® solution components on the production line are monitored completely and transparently by our MOVIVISION plant software®. But this tool doesn't just keep an eye on the actual running processes. MOVIVISION® also supports plant manufacturers and operators in planning, dimensioning, simulating and starting up their conveyor technology.
Thanks to the possibilities of simulation and virtual startup, the project managers on site were able to drastically reduce the actual time needed for startup. "It took only four weeks to integrate 96 vehicles into the plant," recounted Dominik Adam, the project supervisor at LogSystems, the main contractor for the Audi Brussels project.
Both sides – LogSystems and Audi Brussels – are pleased with the good cooperation with our drive engineering experts and their partnership with SEW‑EURODRIVE. "When we get involved in a project, it's all or nothing," said Andreas Cremer, general secretary at Audi Brussels. On the companies participating, he added, "In our expectations of modern production technologies, we always keep pushing for the next step, so we depend on partners who can support and advise us in such processes. SEW‑EURODRIVE is that kind of partner, and we're proud of the cooperation we've established."
As one of the global leaders in drive and automation technology, SEW‑EURODRIVE counts many large and well-known automotive manufacturers among its customers. For example, since 2012, we have equipped Audi plants worldwide with over 2,000 electrified monorail system units and skillets with innovative drive solutions. Our specialists keep the installed components up to date with the latest functions and software updates, e.g. for condition monitoring, at all times.
![Flow diagram of an electrified monorail system with "Safe Distance Monitoring"](https://media.sew-eurodrive.com/sew_master/media/sew_eurodrive/loesungen/individuelle_loesungen/systeme/ems-safe-distance-monitoring-active-de-235x177-2x.webp "Electrified monorail system with MOVISAFE® HM31 safety control and "Safe Distance Monitoring"")
