Introduction
At the Borgo Panigale (BO) plant, Ducati has introduced wireless Pick-by-Light technology to ensure maximum efficiency in serving the assembly stations of its motorcycles. The new process, digitized and orchestrated by Spark, has led to a significant decrease in errors and allowed to drastically reduce operator training times.
Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A.
The project at the historic Ducati plant started from the production line of the Monster, SuperSport and DesertX families: an area dedicated to the assembly of 130 motorcycle versions and the management of around 200 different parts, with the possibility of creating up to 150 motor vehicles per day. Subsequently, the Pick By Light solution was extended to the Diavel and XDiavel assembly area, to that of the ABS systems, and is finally ready to become operational also on the production line of the Multistrada family.
Customer
Objectives
Speed up the operator training phase
Reduce picking errors (quantitative and qualitative)
Increase the pick rate
Improve ergonomics
Achieved Results
90% training time reduction
Defects reduction
Always constant production flow
Maintenance of costs as
complexity increases
Higher productivity
The challenge
A supermarket to develop
The picking process from the supermarket responsible for supplying the production line of the Monster, SuperSport and DesertX families was managed by 3 operators who operated guided by paper lists, often relying on their own memory. This led to defects due to incorrect or missed samples, and training periods of 1 or 2 weeks before new employees learned to compose the kits correctly.
With the increase in motorcycle versions to be produced and in the mix of parts, Ducati has felt the need to introduce a flexible and easily reprogrammable system capable to simplify and digitize the process.
The solution
Green light / free rein for pick by light
With the introduction of Spark, KFI has made it possible to interface between SAP and an innovative wireless Pick By Light system. In fact, the software manages SpeedyPick Air devices which, using semiotics based on a combination of coloured lights and flashes, allow multiple operators to simultaneously locate the parts, view the quantities on the display and confirm the picks by pressing buttons.
After selecting the picking list from the terminal and assembling the kit following the luminous indications, the employee attaches the automatic printout of the picked items and sends everything to the assembly stations. At the same time, the administrator views real-time operational process data and manages the SpeedyPicks by associating them with areas, optimizing battery consumption and monitoring their status.
LOJIST
Through its WES platform, KFI excels in integrating Pick-to-Light technologies into business processes and systems for item picking and sorting.
Acting as an interface with ERP, WMS, MES, and other management systems, LOJIST provides centralized access to data from order fulfillment solutions, streamlining business process orchestration.
The results
Efficiency soars
The process redesigned by KFI and Ducati’s management has allowed for a marked improvement in the ergonomics of the operators, who can now carry out completely hands-free picking and reach the end of the day less tired. This has translated into a considerable decrease in errors, from those deriving from choosing the wrong paper list to those linked to an excessive use of memory. In fact, for Adriano Daniotti:
“The solution tiptoed into production but now we can no longer do without it, so much so that the project has been extended to a total of 4 areas. The most obvious advantage, apart from the reduction in defects, concerns the efficiency in the training phase, which has dropped from two weeks to a few hours necessary to illustrate the operation of the Pick By Light system.
The activity is now simpler, but not only that, the operator is better protected and works more serenely”
