More automation and greater added value from robot production

Diehl Aviation shortens production cycles by up to 40 percent

By using offline programming to generate production-ready robot programs, the international aerospace supplier Diehl Aviation has slashed its cycle times by up to 40 percent. Quality assurance is now managed via a virtual simulation environment; no manual reworking is required. Our CENIT team achieved this milestone by digitally transforming production processes at Diehl, with FASTSUITE Edition 2 installed as the core software solution.

About the customer

Diehl Aviation

Diehl Aviation is a Group division of Diehl Stiftung & Co. KG. A leading supplier of aircraft systems and cabin solutions, Diehl Aviation employs more than 4,400 staff. Customers include Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, Embraer, various defense partners and eVTOL aircraft manufacturers as well as other airlines and operators of commercial and business aircraft around the globe.

To the customer website

Diehl Aviation can now use the 8-axis ABB robot flexibly and with high system availability

Business challenge

Market Position

Diehl Aviation wants to fully exploit the opportunities of digitalization in order to remain an attractive partner for major aircraft manufacturers.

Process Efficiency

Diehl wants to consistently automate its workflows, including those involved in highly complex and variant-rich processes.

Risk Mitigation

Diehl wants to minimize risks by continually improving quality assurance of processes and products.

Customer goals

Plant Efficiency

Diehl Aviation has invested in two new robotics facilities and wants to exploit them to maximum benefit
The robot facilities are used for laser welding of plastic components (8-axis ABB robots) and surface cleaning of pressing tools
The team has little previous experience with the use and programming of high-automation robot systems

Optimized Program Generation

Purely manual programming (teaching) is too time-consuming, especially in view of the rise in product variance
Surface cleaning is a highly complex process
Before the project was initiated, Diehl Aviation already worked with around 200 different robot programs
Complicating factor: CAD models of manufacturing resources and tools had not been standardized

Quality Assurance

The surfaces of pressing tools are highly sensitive to damage – the robot devices must nevertheless be able to consistently achieve maximum cleaning quality
This cannot be achieved via manual programming and approximation
Programming must be validated by way of testing in a virtual environment. This requires ex-post calibration of the robot facilities

At project kickoff, we had little experience with using and programming highly automated robot systems. Together with CENIT, we developed a fully functional FASTSUITE solution that could map the entire surface cleaning process. The facility now operates without any need for manual re-teaching.

Daniel Kohn

Project Manager, Automation

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How FASTSUITE Edition 2 optimizes robot-aided production processes at Diehl Aviation

Our approach was to provide Diehl Aviation with comprehensive, sustainable availability of robot-aided processes. This meant taking a wider view of the client’s need for production-ready robot programs – a view that also took aspects like interdepartmental processes, jig and fixture construction, data standards and competency status issues into account. A higher degree of automation is contingent on a higher degree of digital maturity.

We assisted the Diehl Aviation team in standardizing their CAD data models in CATIA to improve cross-unit information processing.

A further milestone related to the calibration of the robot facilities. Diehl Aviation wanted to be able to test the robot programs in a virtual environment. Calibration was necessary to ensure maximum realism in simulation.

This established a foundation on which CENIT’s FASTSUITE Edition 2 software could demonstrate all its capabilities. Our digital factory application for simulation and offline programming of industrial robots and machines is based on a universal approach that suited Diehl Aviation’s needs perfectly.

Since FASTSUITE Edition 2 supports a wide range of manufacturing technologies, Diehl Aviation is now able to generate robot programs for laser welding of plastic components as well as the tool cleaning process. The CENIT team even expanded the software library to account for the unique requirements of surface cleaning.

Because FASTSUITE was developed to enable manufacturer-independent yet highly realistic robot simulation, Diehl Aviation also gained new flexibility with respect to the equipment used in its robot cells. Prior to handover to production, the aircraft supplier’s team can therefore use simulation to test, optimize and validate the robot programs for its cleaning facility and the 8-axis ABB robot devices.

These results promote the business goals Diehl Aviation wished to achieve with the project. Workflows have become more efficient and – particularly regarding the cleaning processes – a great deal faster. FASTSUITE fully supports adaptation to changing production requirements: To date, more than 340 robot programs have already been generated and validated virtually.

Plant downtime has also been reduced significantly, ensuring an increased level of automation and optimal return on investment in the robot facilities.

In a nutshell:

Offline programming for laser welding and surface cleaning
Virtual 3D environment for surface cleaning facility and 8-axis ABB robot cell
FASTSUITE Edition 2 as digital factory software for simulation and offline programming of industrial robots and machines
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