Technology meets craftsmanship: Velo de Ville streamlines its production with OCS

Steady growth and specialization in customer-specific production have made VELO DE VILLE a successful company across Germany and Europe. The core values of humanity, uniqueness and diversity have always been preserved and continue to shape the company’s actions to this day.

Thanks to the OCS overhead conveyor solution, they now have an efficient assembly and assembly line for their bikes.

Process need

As part of the planning to expand the production hall, VELO DE VILLE wanted to bring its production up to date with the latest technology. The contact with VELO DE VILLE and OCS had existed for some time, but now the time had come to discuss various solutions and options. The request included the assembly of e-bikes and bicycles including an interface to the customer’s own material flow computer.

Action from OCS Sales Team

A distinctive feature in the bicycle industry is the integration of bicycles and e-bikes into a streamlined production line. Additionally, a unique system was developed to transport frames and wheels to the assembly lines via an upper, second level. This setup minimizes material traffic in the main assembly area. The layout also enables partially assembled bicycles to be moved to the second level for temporary buffering, allowing for a smoother workflow.

In parallel with the layout design, custom product carriers were developed on-site in collaboration with the customer, including prototype carriers tailored to specific needs.

Solution

The installed solution utilizes the OCS Heavy Duty overhead conveyor for production lines, i.e. transport during bicycle assembly, while the OCS Medium Duty system handles the transport of frames and wheels prior to assembly.

An RFID tag is attached to the OCS carts, which ensures clear identification of the OCS cart and bicycle. The production system is equipped with adjustable drive motors in order to be able to adjust the transport speed within production. Vertical conveyors transport the bicycles and frames/wheels down to the assembly stations.

Outcome after installation 

This specialized layout, featuring the flexible OCS overhead conveyor system, enables the integration of various processes and cycle times for producing both bicycles and e-bikes in one single line. The various workstations, with a high level of manual involvement and a batch size of one, are automatically and effectively connected to minimize non-value-added transport routes.

Additionally, the workpiece carrier, custom-made to meet specific customer requirements, promotes a highly ergonomic working environment. The driven, interconnected system automatically establishes a specific cycle specification, leading to increased throughput compared to previous production methods.

VELO DE VILLE offers customers over 1,000,000 options in its custom-made process, allowing each bicycle to be configured according to individual needs. This level of customization requires a fundamentally different transport and assembly system, along with a unique connection between the assembly process and the automated material flow system, compared to the standard series production of bicycles and e-bikes.

Achieving timely, short-term, and customer-oriented “just-in-time” production requires seamless communication between the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system and the OCS conveyor system. The objective was to enhance material and assembly planning, as well as the assembly process, to reach efficiency and standards comparable to those of series manufacturers.

“With OCS as a partner, we successfully overcame these challenges. The collaboratively designed system enables us to produce vehicles only when materials are available, track the status, location, and condition of each vehicle, and assemble them efficiently without transport losses. This system allows for more precise planning, significantly increases production capacity, reduces or eliminates transport routes, and greatly improves overall efficiency.

It is now possible for us to produce custom-made bicycles/vehicles from 1,000,000 configuration options for our customers within just 48 hours”, says Oliver Runde, Head of Production.