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Location:
Mannheim (Germany)
Sector:
Manufacture of agricultural machinery
Application:
Conveying system for driver's cabs in the tractor assembly plant
The conveying system for driver's cabs in the assembly plant of the Mannheim tractor factory belonging to agricultural machinery manufacturer John Deere had definitely seen better days, so there was only one thing for it – the old system needed to be replaced with a new one as quickly as possible. Following a retrofit using the electrified monorail system from the MAXOLUTION® solution EMS safety, the cab conveyor at John Deere is now equipped with the latest technology the market has to offer, including the drives, electronics, and safety technology.
Virtually the entire MAXOLUTION® portfolio was used when replacing the cab conveying system at John Deere – from the gearmotors and near-field inverter and control technology right through to the safety technology, everything was supplied by SEW‑EURODRIVE:
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When assembling tractors, how do you transport, lift, and lower driver's cabs that weigh up to 850 kg? How do you ensure the safety of staff who have to work underneath such suspended loads? And how do you reliably bring a cab conveyor – a challenging piece of equipment in terms of its safety technology – up to date in the minimum amount of time?
Watch our video to find out the answers to all these questions and many more. See for yourself how a powerful tractor is produced at the Mannheim plant belonging to machinery manufacturer John Deere using drive technology from SEW‑EURODRIVE, and gain interesting insights into the benefits of our MAXOLUTION® system solution EMS safety, an electrified monorail system equipped with state-of-the-art safety technology.
Today's safety technology requirements were one of the main reasons for replacing the electronics in full. It was obviously important to maintain the same high level of productivity at John Deere after the retrofit – we have a three-minute cycle time here at the tractor factory.Quote from Hans Ziegler, project manager at John DeereThe previous cab conveyor system was designed in 1996, for the production of 25 000 tractors per year. As many as 45 000 tractors can now be produced to meet high demand. John Deere already has some systems featuring drive technology from SEW‑EURODRIVE. Our maintenance department is very happy with the technology from Bruchsal. Spare parts are readily available if and when needed. The service and cooperation are excellent. Our many years of good experience therefore convinced us to opt for this drive supplier. The new cab conveyor is now state of the art and running smoothly. It leaves nothing to be desired in terms of occupational safety, control technology, maintenance, and being fit for the future, and it even exceeds the requirements that were defined in advance. We have gained a lot of flexibility at John Deere thanks to this innovative system, meaning we can ensure a problem-free response to future requirements.
We drew on almost our entire portfolio for the retrofit of the electrified monorail system at John Deere. The gearmotors benefit from compact, vibration-resistant near-field inverter and control technology.Quote from Bernhard Pehlegrim, project manager at SEW‑EURODRIVEThe high-performance MOVISAFE® safety controller now enables John Deere employees to set the cabs down on the drive train themselves using remote control. Our electrified monorail system solution complies with all technical safety aspects, from the position-dependent, safe speed right through to communication. This is very important, because this step is particularly precarious given that workers need to position their upper body between the cab and the drive train during the assembly process.
By late summer and early fall, work in the fields begins to hot up again. It is harvest time. Tractors towing suitable trailers cut crops, gather hay bales, transport harvested grain from the fields, and plow the newly harvested fields.
To ensure a sufficient supply of new tractors, the distinctive green and yellow agricultural machines roll off the production line at the John Deere factory in Mannheim at three-minute intervals. They are supplied in different sizes and equipped with different engines, depending on the requirements of their future owners.
Harvest time without these powerful agricultural machines is totally unimaginable. The tractors, with their striking coloring and design, are a frequent sight on our farms and in our fields, serving as the perfect global advertisement for the American company John Deere, which is headquartered in Moline, Illinois.
Every three minutes, a "Johnny", as the agricultural machines are affectionately known at John Deere, rolls off the conveyor belt in Mannheim. But what does the production of John Deere tractors in Mannheim have to do with Bruchsal? Two things: Firstly, the driver's cabs come from the John Deere sister plant in Bruchsal. Secondly, the safe drive technology used in the manufacturing process comes from SEW‑EURODRIVE in Bruchsal.
Reliable drive and automation solutions, combined with outstanding service from SEW‑EURODRIVE, have ensured that high productivity has been maintained at both these plants for decades. After all, quality, safety, and comprehensive service are just as important to SEW‑EURODRIVE as they are to the agricultural machinery manufacturer.
This was justification enough for the decision-makers at the John Deere tractor plant to put their complete faith in SEW‑EURODRIVE when it came to modernizing the aging cab conveyor in Mannheim. The German subsidiary of John Deere decided not to replace just single drives. Instead, it opted for a complete drive technology retrofit solution, which took the form of an electrified monorail system equipped with optimum safety technology.
The engines for the tractors are manufactured at the John Deere production plant in Saran, near the French city of Orléans. However, the agricultural machinery manufacturer produces the driver's cabs in Bruchsal – not far from the SEW‑EURODRIVE headquarters. Thanks to the synchronized cab and tractor production processes at John Deere, the cabs arrive shortly before assembly – just two days before, in fact.
When the cabs come out of storage in Mannheim, there are still some minor pre-assembly steps to be completed. They are then taken to a rotary table and aligned ready for transfer to the lift frame of the electrified monorail system, with forklift-like arms sliding under each cab from the rear.
Even though the cabs all have different designs, depending on the type and size of the future tractor, this in-plant process is always identical at John Deere. Based on the principle of self-clamping, the cabs are then secured in place by their own weight during transportation. The cabs prepared in this way wait in a holding area until they are retrieved. The tractor to which they will later be assigned is already determined in the material flow.
The electrified monorail system's transport carriages convey the driver's cabs one after the other toward the joining process. Because this process, which is part of the "marriage" (connection of the cab to the tractor's powertrain), takes longer than three minutes, joining takes place on two parallel lines to enable the three-minute cycle to be maintained in the material flow. A track switch directs the incoming cabs, sending them to either the left or right. Double the cycle time is thus available for this process step at the John Deere factory.
How well, and how quickly, the material flow works depends on both the coordination of in-plant processes and the tailor-made drive and automation technology in the conveyor system.
One key feature of the fully modernized electrified monorail system is that the new cab conveyor system fits perfectly into the limited space available – thanks to the modular MAXOLUTION® system solution EMS safety with its compact, decentralized design.
Once at the assembly station, the driver's cab is first automatically lowered to a preliminary height at which nobody can be injured. Only then does the John Deere operator take over with a hand-held terminal, moving the cab manually into the correct joining position above the drive train and then lowering the lift frame of the electrified monorail system further to the joining level.
Who doesn't love a wedding? SEW‑EURODRIVE is lucky enough to be a permanent wedding guest at the John Deere tractor production plant. Although the many marriages that take place here each day – every three minutes in fact – are not really of the romantic kind, they do offer ample security and perfect prospects for the future.
The marriage ceremony initially sounds somewhat risky, as the assembly process at times requires the operator to be underneath the suspended load and thus between the cab and the powertrain (the tractor's engine, axles, and hydraulics). However, sophisticated safety technology is the absolute priority for this assembly station. To ensure John Deere employees can go about their work between the subassemblies safely, redundant measures in the electrified monorail system provide double the safety throughout the work process.
Offering the perfect solution for optimum occupational safety, the consistently redundant design of the belt pairs and drive technology ensures double the protection. Not one, but two pairs of belts made from a highly robust material are used to ensure the optimum hold of the lift frame and driver's cab in the MAXOLUTION® electrified monorail system. Each of these belt pairs is also wound around a central shaft in the middle of the EMS in a two-layered (bifilar) arrangement. This enables symmetrical lifting and lowering of the cabs.
The drive technology in the electrified monorail system also has a redundant design. Using two motors, each of which would be capable of moving and braking the lift frame on its own, guarantees double the safety. Two sensors, known as draw-wire encoders, ensure a safe lifting height and lifting speed. They can also detect any asymmetry or misalignment of the lift frame and notify workers in good time.
Doubly protected in several respects by this state-of-the-art safety system, John Deere staff don't need to worry when reaching under the suspended load to attach electric cables, hydraulic hoses, and bolted connections. This ensures everything runs smoothly during the "marriage" of the driver's cab and the drive train.
Currently, the heaviest driver's cab at John Deere weighs 850 kg. Since the cab conveyor has a limit of 1500 kg, this leaves plenty of reserve capacity.
More than just gearmotors – the retrofit of the John Deere cab conveyor involved virtually the entire MAXOLUTION® portfolio from SEW‑EURODRIVE. The EMS safety electrified monorail system solution uses decentralized, i.e. near-field, electronic drive solutions for the lifting drives. These take up comparatively little space and are vibration-resistant. The two helical-bevel gearmotors, which work together to lift and lower a lift frame and a cab, are each designed for an output of 5.5 kW. A MOVIPRO® SDC supplies the pair of motors as a group drive with a nominal power rating of 11 kW. The 0.55 kW drive motor is controlled by a MOVIFIT® controller.
The timeframe for the entire retrofit at John Deere was just two weeks during the vacation close-down over the Christmas and New Year period in 2016/2017. How fortunate, then, that the company could rely on MOVIVISION® plant software that minimizes the amount of programming required and enables an exact simulation of a virtual startup. The underlying calculations are usually carried out when planning the system – well before the retrofit takes place. It was therefore possible to complete the actual startup much faster at John Deere. That's not all, though. The software also provides a valuable service by enabling permanent monitoring and diagnostics, including condition monitoring, without interrupting plant operations.
The basic occupational safety requirements to protect John Deere staff are the secure position of the vehicles, a secure lifting position, and a safe lifting speed. All of these safety functions run on the MOVISAFE® HM31 safety controller from SEW‑EURODRIVE. This also controls the SBC (Safe Brake Control) safety function, which ensures the correct distance is maintained between the tractors on the production line and eliminates the need for a mechanical distance sensor.
After each rotation, all seven electrified monorail system transport carriages must undergo an automatic brake test for the lifting drives. Any incidents are reported to the control center. The exact position of each carriage at any given time is also sent to the control center and displayed on the visualization screens.
If an error message is received, the system acts autonomously, identifies the EMS carriage in question, and directs it immediately to the maintenance area, thus preventing costly downtime for John Deere.