Pilatus Aircraft Ltd develops and builds unique aircraft worldwide. Precision and efficiency are of crucial importance in production. In order to carry out the interior fitting of the aircraft efficiently, the material for the assemblies to be fitted is prepared in advance in sorting boxes, which are then taken into the aircraft for final assembly. Unfortunately, during assembly, it is often discovered that the number of parts in the sorting box is incorrect or, even worse, that the wrong component has been prepared. This is very annoying. The fitter has to interrupt the work and procure and obtain the missing or incorrect parts from the warehouse, which increases the assembly time and therefore incurs unnecessary costs.
The goal for the future is clear. The sorting boxes must be assembled correctly without errors. Different assemblies and variants are put together from over 1,200 articles. There is a parts list for each variant. The picking time also needs to be reduced. The parts are stored in different locations on shelves and in cabinets.
To reduce picking errors to zero, the SETAGO® Pick by Light system was proposed. The Pick by Light system uses a light sensor to indicate to warehouse employees which items need to be picked and where they can be found. We started with the Pick by Light on-premises version. The articles and parts lists were integrated into the SETAGO® software by exporting them from the ERP system. To minimize walking distances in the warehouse, the warehouse was centralized and rearranged. BLOCAN® aluminium profiles were used to build shelves for the containers and equipped with SETAGO® sensors. Where possible, items in an assembly were arranged next to each other. When picking the order, the employee now selects the desired assembly and walks with the picking box to the article indicated by the sensor. A height-adjustable trolley made of aluminium profiles was developed for the sorting boxes and the Pick by Light system including the battery unit.
Following the successful introduction of the system for one aircraft type, the Pick by Light system was extended to other aircraft types. Due to the increased number of articles and, above all, the fact that several employees have to set up in parallel, the SETAGO® on-premises version was no longer sufficient and the company subsequently switched to the SaaS version.
Thanks to the close collaboration between Phoenix Mecano and Pilatus, the objectives were achieved. Assembly efficiency was increased by minimizing errors and shortening walking distances. Thanks to the customized solution, the assembly staff can now work quickly, efficiently and error-free, which has led to considerable time savings and a significant increase in the quality of the set boxes.
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