Keeping the Parts Moving at Ford Plant in Cologne

Background

Rockwell Automation and a local systems integrator (SI) have recently joined forces to help Ford in Cologne with the relocation and recommissioning of a conveyor-driven storage area, with over 100 conveyors, from an older site into a live production environment.

As well as the logistical elements of the move, both companies had to work together to change the redundant and unsupported incumbent control infrastructure, replacing it with a contemporary solution comprising the automotive industry’s Modular Control Program (MCP) standard running on an Allen-Bradley® Logix-based architecture.

Challenge
  • A local SI called upon Rockwell Automation to help with the recommissioning of a relocated conveyor system at Ford in Cologne, including the deployment of a new control solution.

Solutions

Results
  • After four and a half days the SI’s engineers were able to take over and in the space of a single weekend they were able to get the installation operating in automatic mode
  • The line is now operating fully and has already been extended
  • Rockwell Automation is the standard controls supplier for Ford body shops, so coupled with the MCP standard, technology and knowledge is globally transferable