Modular construction of customized machines, a fairy tale?

By Gerard Ramaker – Manager Sales Automotive

Some years ago there were three major factors that influenced the competitive position of machine builders:

1. Customization and differentiation for customer specification
2. Short time-to-market
3. Innovative products.

Due to rapid technological developments and the current dynamic market situation, we notice that there is a shift in strategic prioritization. Digital transformation and business innovation are now in 1st and 2nd place. These priorities make it possible to respond better to customer-specific wishes and also to shorten time-to-market and production processes. There is no doubt that the current automotive market is making every effort to get through this crisis, in which cost reduction comes first.

Produce smarter
Thanks to technological developments, machines are becoming smarter and smarter. They are equipped with software that can be monitored and controlled remotely, taking data security into account. By providing insight into and anticipating machine data, new opportunities arise for machine building companies, such as, AWL to create value for customers, including data-driven improvements in the production process. Better control of the production process gives the possibility to reduce costs. AI (Artificial Intelligence) is increasingly playing a role in generating trends from data with predictive values for production forecast and machine maintenance.

Also production processes are becoming smarter. Examples include advanced software for virtual prototyping and simulations that run parallel to the physical construction (digital twins). This makes it possible to start testing and preparing a new machine design at an earlier stage (virtual commissioning). This is important because both the time-to-market and the product lifecycle are becoming ever shorter.

Flexible and economical building
AWL sees more and more companies making the transition to standardization and modularization. After proper coordination on customer specific standards and wishes, it is possible for AWL to develop modular and highly automated production machines. We talk about smart customization; machine configuration taking into account customer specific requirements. And with that, modular building of customized machines is no longer a fairy tale, but reality! Because of the modular philosophy, multiple 'machine lives' are guaranteed and can be quickly switched when production numbers go up or down. By offering different product options in the form of modules, this not only makes your production capacity more flexible, but also reduces your costs.

Ordering custom machines from a configurator is no longer a fairy tale!

How can we help you at AWL?
AWL wants to play an important role in this technological and digital transformation. With our developed modular platform, we are able to deliver your customized welding machines with a shorter delivery time. With our digital platform, Lyla we enable you to analyze data from your production process and visualize it in a smart way. We deliver machines that enable you to:

1. Bring your products to market faster
2. Increase your productivity (Overall Equipment Effectiveness)
3. Reduce the total cost over the life cycle of the machine
4. Earn back the investment faster
5. Eliminate long and costly sourcing processes.

Interested? Leave your details here and one of our specialists will contact you.