"I am integrating a transport system that you can forget about: It just works for years."

Ralf Mehldau, Head of Project Management Powertrain, Germany

How a flexible friction-driven transport system is successfully in use worldwide.

We have been using our friction-driven roller conveyor systems in our own projects for well over 20 years. All over the world, they transport workpieces through plants with a total length of well over 100 km. In the meantime, we also actively market our system to external customers under the name of bluetrans. Ralf Mehldau, Head of Project Management Powertrain Germany, has already integrated various transport systems in his customer projects during his career at the thyssenkrupp Automation Engineering. These are usually assembly lines for combustion engines, transmissions, axles and, for some years now, electric motors and batteries in particular. So he knows what's important when using a transport system in large-volume production plants. Read here about his experiences and the advantages he sees in the transport system of thyssenkrupp Automation Engineering.

Ralf Mehldau has handled projects for almost all major car manufacturers in various countries. For several years he also managed the powertrain activities of thyssenkrupp Automation Engineering in Shanghai. He has an intimate knowledge of customer requirements and the pitfalls of the project business in the production sector. He knows: The transport system is the backbone of every production in the series business. If it fails, operates unreliably, or otherwise stands out in any way, that's usually a quick worst-case scenario for a plant's output. "If it doesn't do all that, you can downright forget about a transport system - in the best sense. This is precisely the requirement that the system fully meets throughout the entire product life cycle," says Mehldau.

Millions of workpices on their way through production: How our transfer systems are already moving the world today.

In the automotive industry, the demands on quality, output and efficiency of production have risen to an extremely high level in recent decades. Among our customers are small and medium-sized companies as well as various internationally operating OEMs. In addition to acquisition and operating costs, they also pay attention to maintenance requirements, spare parts availability and much more. The transport systems we integrate are often located in specialized production facilities with up to 100 stations - and only a fail-safe transport system ensures the required plant availability here.

A machine can always have functional errors: A robot stalls or an initiator does not work. However, the transport system must not fail. Because that would block the entire produciton. bluetrans is an absolutely reliable component.
Ralf Mehldau, Head of Project Management Powertrain, Germany

Longevity: bluetrans supports production for decades.

Various major customers all over the world, for whom we design plants, have been operating their plants for more than 20 years with the transport system that we once supplied. "This is proof of the fail-safe longevity and robustness of our modular solution. Many planners and operators suspect during the initial installation that our transport systems will last for a long time, but are then pleasantly surprised after decades of smooth machine operation", explains Ralf Mehldau, not without a certain pride.

bluetrans

After a certain machine running time, production plants are usually rebuilt or shut down. In various projects that we have accompanied in the past, this is exactly what happens. But while machines are dismantled or scrapped, our transport system is often disassembled, cleaned if necessary, and simply reassembled in a new production environment. The enormous durability and modularity of our systems allow this. "On the one hand, this is of course unfavorable for the new product business but it also fills us with great pride to see the sustainability we have created with our engineering", says Ralf Mehldau.

5 arguments for bluetrans

Our friction-driven system bluetransdoes requires no lubrication and is maintenance-free The flexibly combinable individual components of each line - including track segments, conveyor turning stations, directional converters, fixing and positions units - can be individually assembled, quickly set up and dismantled, and adapted to the respective production site. We have already realized an expansion from a pure prototype plant, which is transferred to normal operations after a short start-up phase, several times without a long lead time: The components are simply rebuilt and modularly supplemented.

The rollers inside the friction system stop immediately if something blocks them. If a worker reaches into the system or a workpiece carrier moves against an obstacle, this stops the advance of the transport system. Covers secure exposed components such as transverse shafts - minimizing the risk of inury.

Thanks to flexible guide widths and payloads, bluetrans handles with a wide range of possible transport goods. The installed rollers are made of steel or heavy-duty polyurethane, which can handle high cycle rates and transport workpiece carriers smoothly through the plant during ongoing production.

We have optimized the components in the past to create a durable modular standard. Components that were installed 10 years ago or earlier - including custom-made products - can still be delivered and integrated at any time. For example, when a customer wants to modify an old production line.

If, for example, a transport system component is irreparably damaged by a forklift truck, a replacement must be procured immediately so that production can continue. If the required components are not in stock, for example because they are special components, we can usually manufacture and deliver new parts within a few days. This is possible because we are able to offer a 100% vertical range of manufacture in-house if required.

Practical examples are the best argument for bluetrans

But we can alsways really convince customers when we give examples "from the field": Where we have already installed transport systems internationally, what challenges the integration at special locations present for our assembly team, or what individual solutions we have been able to implement for our customer's plants.

An example from the USA shows: bluetrans is simply "packed up and taken away"

Ralf Mehldau could talk for a long time about his experiences with the in-house transport systems: "In the USA, as project manager, I equipped an OEM's plant with our conveyor solution in the early 2000s. For seven years, it reliably performed its work there, without a break and without complaint. Then the demand had changed, the plant was dismantled. That's how it is sometimes. We then reused the components that were now available again at the new location, just a handful of miles to the south: dismantle them, transport them away, reinstall them. The customer was impressed with this sustainability."

The fact that we integrate the complete bluetrans transport systems from one plant into the next is the best case scenario. On the other hand, the fact that we reuse the majority of modules from a plant disassembly by dividing them among different locations is the rule: If it is not necessary to produce anew, we reuse the customers' components in their new plants after careful material testing. For example, we have already shipped bluetrans parts from the USA to Mexico or supplied OEM plants within Europe with modules from a dismantled transport system.

Our customers are always amazed at how durable bluetrans is. Workers may well spend half their working life in the plant with one system without replacing it. It endures.
Ralf Mehldau, Head of Project Management Powertrain, Germany

3 examples of customized special solutions

At bluetrans the products are not only available "off the peg": Our transport system allows a wide range of combination. If the available components do not fit into a desired configuration, we will find a special solutions - as required by the specific circumstances of our customers.

Here you can find three special solutions that we have realized for our customers:

The actual function of our transport system, to bring workpieces from A to B, can also be diverted from its intended use. A customer needed an efficient option to buffer 100 workpiece carriers in a small space. Therefore we designed several transport system tracks in two rows on top of each other and closed each of them with a lift-shuttle element that allows easy loading and unloading. The workpieces run through the system in a continuous loop and are thus temporarily stored until they are used. Ralf Mehldau: "Certainly one of the more exotic solutions we have used in the 20 years I have been with thyssenkrupp. But that's exactly what I enjoy: thinking unconventionally, trying things out - and at best shaping a new innovation."

A few years ago, we carried out a double level assembly line for the plant of a German automobile manufacturer. In the upper level, the workpiece carrier moves in one direction, then it is lowered and returns on the roller conveyor below. A space-saving solution specially designed by our designers to meet the conditions on site, which has been in constant service ever since.

For one customer, we had to find a way to transport an extra-long rear axle through the assembly. Ralf Mehldau tells, "that was new territory for us. The dimensions did not llow th euse of our usual workpiece carrier, so we developed and successfully tested a tandem version. In upcoming product lines, this will certainly find its use again." The solution is now a front and a rear element that rotatably convey the workpiece.

bluetrans has been continuously developed since it was patented

The close cooperation of our engineers, on-site fitters and project managers allowed us to optimize our transport system down to the last screw. The testimonials from our customers speak for themselves: it has been running without complaint - in some plants since it was first installed more than 20 years ago.

"What I have learned in two decades as a project manager all over the world is: bluetrans proves itself very well in the highly demanding sector of automotive production. However, the flexibility of its individual modules means that nothing stands in the way of its use outside the engine and gear assembly: the workpiece carriers can move loads from a few kilograms up to 1 ton. Whatever demands are placed on technology in series production - output, transport speeds, accuracy requirements at the highest level - bluetrans can become the standard for all cases", Ralf Mehldau concludes.

^{Would you like to learn more about our roller conveyor system based on the friction roller principle, which has been optimized for decades? Then read more here about bluetrans.}