VE Commercial Vehicles Limited (VECV) has accelerated innovation with Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) solutions through the SAP Manufacturing Suite. The commercial vehicles manufacturer has so far standardised operational processes, resulting in cost reductions, as well as higher productivity and quality gains.
Amidst the COVID-19 situation which has forced manufacturing companies to digitally transform, leveraging partnerships to help them further move towards Industry 4.0 is crucial. With SAP systems accounting for 77{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of all global transactions, the German enterprise software giant is well-positioned to tackle the sector’s production challenges. SAP integrates every link in the customer’s supply chain to the Intelligent Enterprise by providing intelligence and automation to the whole manufacturing process.
One organisation that has invested heavily into digitalisation pre-COVID and going into the pandemic period is VECV, a leading player in the commercial vehicles (CV) industry in India. The company, which is a joint venture between Volvo Group and Eicher Motors Limited (EML), develops, manufactures, and sells CVs like trucks and buses domestically. Volvo Trucks’ exclusive distribution in India, Volvo Group’s engine manufacturing and exports, non-automotive engines, and the Eicher component business are all part of the company. In October, the firm reported a 38.2{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} increase in total sales at 5,805 units.
Driving rapid business growth and reinforcing its position as a leader in the industry today, the Gurugram-headquartered company needed to address numerous challenges within the organisation. These include a shortage of skilled personnel to maintain high productivity and quality, an inability to track and trace its operations, and a lack of systems to guide operators on assembly processes. In addition, VECV also had issues with data connectivity on the assembly line, poor machine utilisation, line efficiency, and operator productivity caused by an absence of process controls and error-proofing.
VECV Selects SAP Manufacturing Suite to Gain Real-Time Visibility into the Entire Supply Chain
To solve the aforementioned problems and to deliver shop-floor visibility to the top floor, VECV opted to deploy IIoT-based SAP solutions. Paving the way to move towards smart manufacturing, the company also transformed its operations by utilising SAP Manufacturing Execution system (SAP MES), SAP Manufacturing Integration and Intelligence (SAP MII), SAP Plant Connectivity (SAP PCo), SAP Overall Equipment Effectiveness Management (SAP OEE), and SAPUI5.
Furthermore, the commercial vehicles manufacturer implemented the SAP Manufacturing Suite across all its 10 assembly lines, which include around 150 assembly stations and involve more than 200 machines to assemble around 3,000 parts. Solutions within the SAP Manufacturing Suite facilitate Industry 4.0 principles with a single source of real-time data to help organisations integrate and embed intelligence into their manufacturing processes.
According to VECV, the radio-frequency identification (RFID) integration through SAP PCo has minimised manual interventions, while SAP MES screens on assembly sites increased efficiency. Additionally, vibration sensors installed on six major equipment captured data into SAP MII through the SAP PCo software that were then analysed to help predict machine failure.
Sumit Goyal, Senior Manager IT, Digital Manufacturing at VE Commercial Vehicles Limited, shared:
“SAP Manufacturing Suite has brought many tactical and strategic benefits to VECV. It has helped improve productivity, lower operating costs, and increase quality and compliance. By gaining real-time visibility into the entire manufacturing supply chain, we are able to accelerate root-cause analysis by making fact-based decisions.”
Other key benefits of implementing the SAP Manufacturing Suite include:
- Streamlining operational processes, equipment, and tasks, resulting in operational cost reductions, accelerating productivity, and enhancing quality.
- Decreasing the troubleshooting time significantly due to 100{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} tracking and traceability of all assembly procedures.
- Displaying assembly operations’ standard operating procedures in real-time.
- Ensuring strong process controls and error-proofing by connecting assembly machines that monitor 400 essential process parameters.
