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News Release from: Rockwell Automation Anorad | Subject: Kanban system
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 11 July 2002
Kanban automates automotive materials
control
To further improve efficiency and productivity, a Kanban sytem will automate the purchasing and stock management of materials at a UK car manufacturer.
Toyota is a global car manufacturer, with factories around the world Its plant in Burnaston, Derbyshire is one of the most modern and efficient in Europe, capable of producing 220,000 vehicles a year
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 21 Apr 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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To further improve efficiency and productivity, Rockwell Automation has installed a Kanban sytem to automate the purchasing and stock management of materials covering Toyota's Burnaston plant and its engine plant on Deeside.
The Kanban 2000 system is the last significant element in a major expansion and upgrade of Burnaston, which has already involved the installation of an additional production line for the new Corolla model and an upgrade of the Body Identification System by Rockwell Automation.
Like other Toyota plants in the US and Japan, the Derbyshire facility uses PLCs, I/O and human machine interfaces from Rockwell Automation's global Allen-Bradley range for its factory automation and information systems.
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Kanban 2000 was developed by Rockwell Automation for Toyota, and Burnaston is the first Toyota factory to have the new system installed.
It replaces an earlier Allen-Bradley Kanban system, which dated from 1992 and required manual stock checking and batch data entry.
A Kanban is a card used to assist in the control of materials to provide information such as components identification, routeing, order quantities and lead times.
The Kanban stays with the components from order to use.
The Kanbans used in the Toyota system have "two dimensional" PDF417 barcodes, which can contain over 2Kb of data.
When a delivery of components arrives at the factory, stores personnel scan the Kanban with radio Ethernet barcode readers.
These incorporate a 16 by 20 character display, enabling an interactive, real time interchange with the operator and the Kanban 2000 system.
As the scanned data is processed, it is validated by the incorporation of additional information from the Toyota factory mainframe database.
The details of the materials received are checked against the order that was originally placed on the supplier and, if correct, the delivery is booked in and automatically allocated to the end user or stores.
The stores database is then updated.
When materials are used, the Kanban is again scanned with the handheld radio Ethernet barcode reader.
The Kanban 2000 system ensures that the details on the Kanban are correct, and makes additional checks on related information in the mainframe database.
The system then calculates a reorder date based on the supplier lead-time and the actual working days of the plant and automatically faxes an order to the supplier.
Because the Toyota mainframe database is constantly updated, the latest information on stock availability and ordering is always available to plant management.
It can also be combined with other related database information, giving powerful reporting capabilities.
With over 600 orders being placed each day on up to 300 suppliers, the reliability of this data is essential to the smooth and efficient running of the plant.
Following the successful installation of Kanban 2000 at Burnaston and Deeside, Rockwell Automation was awarded a contract to install the system at Toyota's plant in western France where the Yaris is built, and there are also plans to roll out Kanban 2000 to its plant in Poland. Request a free brochure from Rockwell Automation Anorad ...
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