As part of planning a new building, Riese & Müller wanted to bring its production up to the latest level of technique. After visiting other bike-manufacturers with OCS installations installed, Riese & Müller contacted us to discuss the different solutions and possibilities for bike-assembling using an OCS Overhead Conveyor System.
The request included the assembly of E-Bikes and Cargo-bikes, including a SCADA-system (Supervisor Control and Data Acquisition) to control the material flow and check the process times.
The project started with on-site meetings at Riese & Müller’s old production plant to understand the customers’ requirements and needs. Based on experience from previous installations, together with clear customer needs we developed the optimal layout. The process continued with an ongoing dialogue to secure all technical requests.
The difference to previous installations was the idea that the frames and wheels should be brought to the assembly lines via an additional system on a 2nd level, to avoid too much material-traffic into the assembling area. Custom made product carriers was developed together with the customer, on site with prototype carriers.
Thanks to the flexibility of the OCS system Riese & Müller got a compact buffer for one-day production with the possibility of later extensions.
The solution is based on OCS 500 overhead conveyor for production lines and the OCS 150 for frames and wheels transport before installation. The Scada system and a connection to the Riese & Müller material flow-control and data storage (FMS) was also included.
A RFID tag is fixed to each OCS trolley which ensures a clear identification of both trolley and product. The OCS 500 system is used for transport within the assembly of bicycles. The system is designed without a drive and in each case as a mounting loop. There are five assembly loops for e-bikes and one assembly loop for cargo bikes. The OCS 150 system is used to transport frames and wheels. There is only one product carrier in the system for both products. Vertical conveyors transports the components down to the assembly loops.
