Change of course Porsche now controls intralogistics in a completely different way

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MHP Management- und IT-Beratung GmbH

FAULHABER Drive Systems

The sports car manufacturer Porsche is integrating Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV) into its intralogistics, which, from now on, will be controlled via the MHP Fleetexecuter, it is said.

By deploying the MHP Fleetexecuter, the premium car manufacturer Porsche is, for the first time in the company's history, using a centralized fleet control system, according to reports. The system is integrated into the existing Porsche IT infrastructure via the cloud and is in operation at the main plants in Zuffenhausen. There, it serves as the functional core for automating the logistics process, as MHP further reports. Further rollouts are expected soon. This includes, for instance, the construction of the Taycan. Furthermore, numerous projects are planned, involving several hundred vehicles in different AGV fleets with over 300 functions in operation. The subsidiary of Porsche AG is responsible for consulting, implementation, product development, as well as service and support. Since June 2023, Plants 2 and 3 at Porsche in Zuffenhausen have been live. Ten more projects will follow, including in "Building 70", the assembly hall of the Porsche Taycan, where new AGVs are to support production supply.

Complex intralogistics is still intuitively operable

Currently, 27 Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) perform up to 1,600 material transports including loading trips per day on a route of 750 meters, as emphasized. In this process, the MHP Fleetexecuter orchestrates various new and older assets. These include elevators, high-speed doors, and various existing systems. Moreover, the AGVs navigate through four automatic gates, a double elevator system, and four crossing foreign systems between different high-bay warehouses. Henning Hiebsch, Partner and Business Owner Fleetexecuter at MHP, notes: "We are dealing with a completely novel architecture here!" To meet the individual requirements at Porsche, the whole system was configured and further developed in such a way that the process-critical production supply is 100% guaranteed. And despite its technical complexity, everything remains intuitively operable for the end-user. For this purpose, the application was fully digitally modeled and simulated in advance and then physically tested in the MHP Lab, a testing area of MHP in Ludwigsburg, as well as in a customer-close cloud-based infrastructure. The result is that the software could be put into operation just a few months after the project started. Despite the adaptation effort, Porsche is pleased to confirm that everything could start on time.

Porsche better exploits intralogistics potential

The MHP Fleetexecuter significantly improves the potentials in Porsche's intralogistics. The software can increase efficiency by up to 20 percent. It creates more transparency and resilience on the Porsche shop floor, thus laying the foundation for improved processes. It also enables very good system availability, it is further noted. The MHP Fleetexecuter is equipped with many special and emergency functions that guarantee high error tolerance, according to MHP. In addition, costs can be reduced – for example, through process-optimized energy management. This ultimately leads to a quick return on investment. Porsche comments that this also allows for the precise control of an ever-increasing number of Automated Guided Vehicles. At the same time, the sports car manufacturer can save a lot of truck trips through the software-controlled transport systems, thus contributing to sustainability.