OSRAM uses mobile robots to increase speed and flexibility in production

The light manufacturer uses automated guided vehicles in its production processes to deliver components where they are required.

“Fast and flexible devices and machines are vital for efficient production processes. The integrated campus solution project has given us the opportunity to examine how we can expand and optimise this approach in the future using new technologies.”

Hans-Joachim Schwabe, CEO, OSRAM Automotive

Challenge

Large quantities of components are transported to the production facilities on the site of the lighting manufacturer. The company hoped to increase the efficiency of this process by deploying self-driving, wirelessly connected vehicles. However, LAN connections are unsuitable for mobile IoT scenarios, while WLAN does not provide the requisite transmission quality.

Solution

OSRAM selected a 4G/5G campus network which combines a local edge cloud and an operator edge cloud in a mobile network. Edge clouds ensure the required minimal latencies and guarantee the smooth deployment of the automated guided vehicles, while the campus network ensures quick communication with the local computing resources.

Customer benefit

The self-driving vehicles increase speed and flexibility in production. OSRAM has built up important knowledge that will aid the company in further optimising its production processes through new technologies. The highly flexible, mobile, secure and powerful network and IT infrastructure will be available as a basis for establishing smarter factories in the future.