Digitalized milk-run system for a learning factory assembly line

In order to face current trends and challenges in industrial companies such as increasing number of variants, shorter product life cycles and higher product complexity, production logistics is one of the main areas for optimizing assembly systems. To increase the efficiency of the internal material supply, various lean system such as the milk-run were introduced. It has been shown in literature that digitalization technologies can be used to improve lean systems. Nevertheless, there is currently a lack of knowledge about the digitalization of milk-run systems, especially in learning factories. Therefore, this work is introducing a digitalized milk-run system in LEAD Factory, the learning factory of Graz University of Technology. This system relies on the RFID technology to automatically generate orders from a warehouse to a workstation. In the warehouse a pick-to-light system is used to show the logistics employee on a screen which parts to pick. To efficiently deliver the order to the workstation, the shortest path is calculated using a path planning algorithm that is used in robotics. The paper shows (1) developments of milk-run systems, (2) the concept for a digitalized milk-run system at the LEAD Factory and (3) its application within digitalization trainings. (C) 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.