Cassioli has contributed to creation of the Arctic household appliances factory in Ulmi, Romania, which has recently obtained the prestigious recognition of the World Economic Forum as a model for application of Industry 4.0 principles.
The World Economic Forum announced the addition of 10 new factories to its global Lighthouse network, a community of manufacturers who are demonstrating strong leadership in applying the technologies of the fourth industrial revolution to generate financial and operational impacts.
The factories join a network of 16 existing lighthouses in several areas around the world. These serve as beacons to guide other enterprises through the challenges of upgrading systems and applying cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, big-data analysis and 3D printing. Factories were selected based on their success in integrating these technologies to increase efficiency and drive innovation.
Since 2002, when the majority shareholding was acquired by the Arçelik group, Arctic has become the largest producer of household appliances in continental Europe, above all thanks to the substantial investments made in implementation of new technologies and modern production-management systems, which have made it possible to significantly increase the production capacity of the Găești facility.
Cassioli, responsible for realization of automated warehouses for the storage of raw materials and finished products at Arctic’s Romanian plant, as well as assembly lines for washing machines, is pleased to share this important international recognition with Arctic.
At the Ulmi plant, our company has installed automatic systems for the storage of the four main components that make up the washing machines, i.e. outer drums, doors, inner drums and casings. All of these components, once manufactured and checked at the testing islands, are transferred by special conveyors and SLS automatic vehicles to the warehouse.
In addition to the storage of these four components, Cassioli has also created special lines and automatic systems for handling and storage of the other components required for assembly of the washing machines.
Components arriving from the suppliers are transferred by conveyors to the warehouse and from there transported via RGV shuttles to 84 dropping points, where the operators receive the assembly materials.
From an Industry 4.0 perspective, the Arctic plant in Ulmi represents a perfect example of fully digitalized industry, where all processes are interconnected, respecting the technology and automation principles that characterise the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
All processes take place completely automatically, with man-machine interfaces that provide real-time information to operators on current processes, thus increasing production efficiency and minimizing the risk of errors.
The plant has been designed twice as fast as the previous-generation factories and, since its creation, automation of low-value tasks has reduced operating costs by 11%.The 10 companies selected, including giants such as Ford, Nokia and Renault, were chosen on the basis of their success in integrating the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution to increase production efficiency and drive innovation.
