About Brose

Brose has over 100 years of history and 24,000 employees. Every second new car in the world is equipped with at least one Brose product. The company manufactures technologies for doors, seats, electric motors and steering. Its expertise in mechatronics enhances the comfort, safety and efficiency of cars.

Project Summary

We have created a solution that optimizes the internal logistics of finished products from multiple production lines. The custom-built software reads, interprets and displays data from production technology. It gives forklift operators precise instructions on tablets mounted on their vehicles.

The Challenge

The Inefficiency of Ad-Hoc Logistics

There are several production lines in the production hall. There is a constant need to bring input material to the lines and to take away finished products. In one production hall, this was done by six forklift drivers.

They drove around the hall on an ad hoc basis and when they saw a crate of finished products somewhere, they would take it away and bring in a new one. There was a space for significant optimization if we could quickly show the drivers precise information about when and where they should arrive.

The Solution

Non-Invasive PLC Integration & Predictive Dispatch

We created software that reads data from the production PLCs of each production line completely automatically. The software further interprets this data and produces very accurate predictions of when a batch of finished goods will be ready for collection on which line. We have installed tablets on all forklifts that show the drivers the precise time and location where they should arrive

This integrated hardware-software solution allowed us to reduce the number of forklifts needed from 6 to 4 immediately after deployment. We immediately met our primary goal of significantly reducing internal logistics costs in production.

At the same time, our solution completely eliminated the risk of production downtime due to modifications or interventions in the production PLC software. On the contrary, we do not interfere with them in any way, we just connect to them and read the data provided. The software works completely automatically and does not need any interaction from employees.

Another benefit is the gain of completely new data from which statistics are generated and used for future optimization. Last but not least, the solution attracts the attention of customers and improves the company’s image during inspections.

The Result

Immediate Reduction in Fleet Overhead

By replacing ad-hoc manual observation with real-time predictive dispatching, the facility transitioned from reactive logistics to an orchestrated, data-driven workflow. This shift not only eliminated operational waste but also established a foundation for continuous process improvement through previously inaccessible production telemetry.

Key Outcomes

• 33% reduction in forklift fleet and associated labor costs from day one.
• Zero-risk deployment via non-invasive PLC integration with no production downtime.
• End-to-end automation requiring zero manual data entry or employee intervention.
• Operational transparency that serves as a high-tech showcase for customers and stakeholders.