Working toward zero-defect production: AI in Manufacturing at Bosch
Robert Bosch GmbH
Bosch developed an in-house AI Analytics Solution now in use on over 1,400 production lines worldwide, analyzing data from highly automated, sensor-connected manufacturing to find causes of quality problems in real time. At the Bamberg, Germany plant, the platform reads and analyzes about 1 billion lines of sensor and quality data per day, processing roughly 1 million data messages every 24 hours from assembly and test lines, to flag anomalies and support zero-defect production. Bosch is working to deploy the platform across all 240 of its manufacturing sites.
Overview
Bosch developed an in-house AI Analytics Solution now in use on over 1,400 production lines worldwide, analyzing data from highly automated, sensor-connected manufacturing to find causes of quality problems in real time. At the Bamberg, Germany plant, the platform reads and analyzes about 1 billion lines of sensor and quality data per day, processing roughly 1 million data messages every 24 hours from assembly and test lines, to flag anomalies and support zero-defect production. Bosch is working to deploy the platform across all 240 of its manufacturing sites.
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Inspect the highlighted sourceThe challenge
Before the AI Analytics Solution, tracing the causes of quality problems in Bosch's highly automated and connected manufacturing took days, weeks, or sometimes months of manual data analysis, during which production was severely limited.
The solution
Bosch developed an in-house AI Analytics Solution, now used on over 1,400 production lines worldwide, that is directly connected to production lines and analyzes huge amounts of process and quality data collected from numerous sensors at each workstation, using data mining and visualization to find the causes of quality problems and immediately flag anomalies to plant colleagues via dashboards. At the Bamberg, Germany plant, the platform reads and analyzes about 1 billion lines of sensor and quality data per day and processes about 1 million data messages within 24 hours, drawing roughly 40% of that data from the test line alone, receiving new data from each test station every 20 seconds.
Reported business value
The AI Analytics Solution can already identify almost every error directly as it occurs, making products better and plants more efficient, productive and environmentally friendly by avoiding virtually all reject parts. Bosch is currently working on deploying the platform at all 240 of its manufacturing sites.
Sources
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