Brüggen Improves Workflow and Optimizes Production Processes

Brüggen, a leader in commercial vehicle construction, also operates one of the most advanced coating installations in Europe. With many years of experience and state-of-the-art systems, the company is one of Europe’s leading specialists in surface coating, and production is carried out solely to order.

The existing IT system in Brüggen’s coating area was unable to communicate directly with the company’s ERP system, SAP, which meant that the SAP information had to be transferred to the IT system manually. This involved a great deal of increased effort before real production could actually get started. It was also time-consuming and a potential source of errors.

In addition, employees had to perform the quality controls within the individual production steps manually, and assess the effects of any necessary changes in quality assurance themselves. This increased production time, especially with larger orders.

Driving reliability, precision, and production control

The implementation of GE Vernova's HMI/SCADA solution provides substantial support to Brüggen in achieving delivery reliability. Thanks to the SAP integration, the orders coming from the areas of body construction and component production no longer need to be transferred and organized manually. And progress and quality in the production process can be followed on monitors, while individual process changes occurring on short notice can be carried out in real time.

HMI/SCADA's use of open interfaces enables Brüggen to upload the incoming orders straight from the SAP system. This saves time and enables production to start right away, regardless of the number of special factors in the order. The solution also provides process visualization, which allows the work process to be monitored perfectly, and individual adjustments are passed straight from the system to the control units of the machinery.

Furthermore, the solution automatically manages the curing processes in the production area, stopping and restarting the correct temperatures depending on the specified amount of time required. This helps Brüggen drive greater process reliability, which employees can also monitor with the visualization.