Dürr and BMW win award for smart painting technique
Robotics and automation technology company Dürr and automaker BMW have won an award for developing a new robotic painting system.
The companies received the award for technique for their concept of a “smart paint shop” at the Surcar 2017 event in Cannes, France.
The jury at Surcar, which is said to be the world’s leading biennial congress on automotive body finishing, traditionally selects the winners for three awards.
This year Dürr and BMW convinced the jury with their joint presentation on how to increase production efficiency by digitization.
The international congress is held every other year in Cannes and brings together an international audience of decision-makers and experts in automotive body painting from over 25 countries.
Dr Hans Schumacher, board spokesman of Dürr Systems, and Hermann Stoegmeier, vice president technology surface at the BMW Group, together presented a concept to combine the data from the car manufacturer and the supplier to analyze the processes in paint shops.
The aim is to avoid redundancy in data collection and data analytics through an efficient use of existing software to fulfill joint targets regarding the increase of production uptime, process quality and overall equipment efficiency.
Therefore, BMW and Dürr combine the latest IT technology with their know-how in production processes and equipment technology.
With a permanent condition monitoring, the processes in a plant can be analyzed from the total view to the paint shop to single robot cells and even to each individual robot.
The Surcar award jury is composed of all members of the technical board. Their task is to select the presentations, which stand out according to innovation, content and technical research criteria in their own area of expertise.
The Dürr Group is one of the world’s leading mechanical and plant engineering and automation companies.
The company’s products, systems and services can be found in the manufacturing processes in many different industries.
Dürr supplies sectors like the automotive industry, the mechanical engineering, chemical and pharmaceutical industries, and the woodworking industry.
The company has 86 business locations in 28 countries. The Dürr Group generated sales of €3.57 billion in 2016.
Dürr has around 14,400 employees and operates in the market with five divisions:
- Paint and Final Assembly Systems: paint shops and final assembly systems for the automotive industry
- Application Technology: robot technologies for the automated application of paint, sealants and adhesives
- Measuring and Process Systems: balancing equipment as well as assembly, testing and filling technology
- Clean Technology Systems: exhaust-air purification systems and energy efficiency technology
- Woodworking Machinery and Systems: machinery and equipment for the woodworking industry