High-Throughput Battery Cell Production

As battery manufacturers work to rapidly add new production capacity in response to surging demand, they can face a major challenge: compressing the time it takes to build new production lines. DWFritz Automation, a global provider of engineered-to-order precision automation, metrology, and inspection solutions for advanced manufacturing, recently completed a fully automated production line for a North American battery manufacturer — in record time.

“At DWFritz, we talk in terms of microns and milliseconds,” said Chris Povich, DWFritz Vice President of Sales. “The challenges we solve for our customers require high speeds, advanced material handling, process automation, and very high precision.”

DWFritz sought a strategic project partner that could provide multi-technology expertise and be able to support rapid design iteration, secure supply chain, and accelerate project execution. They chose Bosch Rexroth.

According to Povich, several key design and operating requirements helped drive the decision to partner with Bosch Rexroth for the project. “The line had to operate at very high speeds,” he said. “Space was also a challenge — it had to be designed to fit into a very tight footprint. And the motion platform had to handle very robust motion control demands.”

One of the biggest challenges was time. On previous projects, according to Mukesh Dulani, President, DWFritz, his company would have used multiple suppliers. Since there were only 12 weeks of design and engineering time and eight weeks for procurement, partnering solely with Bosch Rexroth supplied the technology and engineering support, making it the only way for the project to succeed.

For Bosch Rexroth, partnering with leading machine builders and integrators is a critical step in moving factory automation forward, according to Matthias Aberle, Bosch Rexroth North America Senior Vice President of Manufacturing, Engineering, and Factory Automation.

“Manufacturers want better results, with more open and innovative systems,” he said. “To do that, we’re developing key partnerships with technology stakeholders like DWFritz so the combined strengths of our organizations will drive major transformations in the automation industry.”

Bosch Rexroth contributed a wide array of technologies and systems to create the new battery production line, including multiple conveyor systems, gantry-style Cartesian robots, and a full suite of motion control and drive systems built around the company’s ctrlX AUTOMATION platform.

“One of our most important goals was to have an open control architecture so our customer’s servers could directly query the machine and get real-time data,” said Dulani. “With the ctrlX AUTOMATION platform and its ctrlX CORE, it enabled our customer to build future production lines using the same software and hardware platform.”

The ctrlX AUTOMATION features a Linux-based real-time operating system, an open architecture, and web-based engineering so users can create, add, or share automation functions via an app, making automation as easy as using a smartphone.

The ease of use and openness of ctrlX AUTOMATION helped the team complete the project within the required time frame. Among other advantages, the platform offers a virtual development environment to create a “digital twin” of the communication platform between MES and automation controllers, saving an enormous amount of time.

“Months before they got the hardware, the DWFritz engineers were testing all of its systems, how it was going to work and how it would interface with the battery manufacturer’s MES system,” said Dave Hull, Bosch Rexroth Regional Vice President.

The battery production line was built around the DWFritz Flexible Platform DFP5000 assembly cell. This flexible modular platform can be custom-configured with the controls, servo drives, and transport in-feeds for specific processes. Precision kinematic tools were essential elements for these production cells and were created using the Rexroth CKK compact linear modules. These modules are very compact and feature high accuracy with repeatability in the five-micron range.

For product handling, Bosch Rexroth conveyors were key to the project’s success. The team considered the size of the product being manufactured, its weight, the throughput speeds, and stopping accuracy required, among other criteria.

The VarioFlow plus conveyor, configured as a pallet-based solution, provided the optimal platform for conveying product within and between assembly cells. VarioFlow plus is a flexible, modular plastic chain conveyor, designed to move high-volume products horizontally, vertically, around obstacles or in other configurations.

Because the assembly cells are so tightly packed, the VarioFlow plus system allowed for many processes to occur, while still maintaining the pallet position on the conveyor system. VarioFlow plus also made it easier to create a recirculating system to return the empty pallets back to the beginning of the line, saving valuable floor space.

The engineering process and development partnership established in this project — with system design, programming and component acquisition and integration organized to occur in tight, overlapping time frames — will become the standard approach for complex automation projects going forward — if the right partners can work together the way DWFritz and Bosch Rexroth did.

“From the beginning, Bosch was working in partnership with our engineering team as we were developing the technical concept,” said DWFritz’s Povich. “When we were awarded the project, immediately a full team from both companies came together to work hard and solve the customer’s challenges.”

For Bosch Rexroth, the success of this project not only laid the groundwork for further projects with DWFritz, but it also presented a model of how the vision for Industry 4.0 automation in manufacturing can become a reality.

This article was contributed by Bosch Rexroth Corp (Bethlehem, PA). For more information, visit here .

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