The company, which employs more than 7,000 people worldwide, currently manufactures around 22 million sensing products every year which it sells to 165,000 customers worldwide. Unusually, more than 95% of its sales are direct to customers, and not through distributors.
Ifm has begun a major initiative to implement Industry 4.0 principles in its main production site in Tettnang in Germany, with individual production lines functioning as intelligent networks. Up to 120 sensor variants can be manufactured on one line, with typical batch sizes being 100–200 items. Ifm has also implemented an “automation cloud”, including tracking systems and a digital production order system designed to optimise the line’s OEE.
To reduce response times, ifm’s production planning system makes order information available in real time. This eliminates the need for the lines to wait for the next order to arrive.
Ifm is implementing Industry 4.0 technologies, including autonomous logistics robots, at its Tettnang plant
As part of its smart factory initiative, ifm is introducing autonomous logistics robots which will perform picking tasks and supply the production lines automatically.
