The software taraVRbuilder supports Rauch Moebelwerke GmbH, a German furniture manufacturer, in designing and modifying highly complex assembly lines.

Changing customer preferences and increasing cost pressure call for permanent readjustment of manufacture. Especially medium-sized companies have to keep in mind their efficiency to stay competitive. Therefore, manufacturing processes have to be planned accurately and in-depth. 3D visualization and animation provide support and higher planning reliability.

One of Europe’s biggest furniture manufacturer is based in idyllic Freudenberg am Main in the center of Germany. Rauch Moebelwerke GmbH, specialized on bedrooms and wardrobe-systems, looks back on a 111-years tradition. Since the formation 1897 the owner has managed family business pursues its philosophy of a slow, but balanced and continuous growth – with a formidable performance: Approximately 1,500 employees are manufacturing in four factories eight million packing pieces and are obtaining in this way a turnover of 250 million Euro.

Rauch Moebelwerke has one formula of success: setting standards. Whether environmental thresholds, adherence to delivery dates, location responsibility or quality, the furniture manufacturer is always in the fore. “Our complaint quota is well under average“, says CEO Michael Stiehl proudly. Only with outstanding performance it is possible to provide sustainable economic development. Thus Rauch Moebelwerke runs its own flake board manufacturing factory and guarantees the high quality standards by over 1,000 cubic meter flake boards daily needed. Also the individualization of customer likings poses a great challenge. Standard solutions are out; special tailored products are in the demand. Many designs in even more numerous variations replace series manufacturing. Rauch Moebelwerke meets this challenge offering 150 separate designs and an increasing diversity of variations.

Higher planning reliability, less cost risk

To be able to deal with the adherent enormous logistics effort, you depend on a perfect, in-depth manufacturing planning. Support provides tarakos’ 3D animation and visualization software taraVRbuilder. Using this software, it is possible to depict complex installation plans and manufacturing processes virtual and three-dimensional. Operation procedures can be run through before the commissioning of an assembly line and problems and difficulties can be eliminated already in the run-up.

“We have tautly organized assembly lines, up to 120 meters long. Every movement must fit or else congestions are occurring and this has to be avoided at all costs“, says project director Matthias Bachmann. To be more flexible the furniture manufacturer does without a finished goods warehouse. By pull-system every packing piece is directly delivered to the trucks – very challenging, if you have to load 50 trucks a day. At first view maybe negligible bagatelles could easily lead to a breakdown of the whole manufacturing, because all processes – cutting of flake boards, assembling of furniture, packaging and loading – are tightly synchronized. With the taraVRbuilder worker routes, the need of bumpers, timing and assembly line positions are simulated and perfectly synchronized before the assembly unit is actually built up. Rauch Moebelwerke is not willing to accept costly try and error procedures. The tarakos-software accelerates designing and configuring of new assembly lines, helps integrating new stations and allows modifying and adjusting already established systems. “In the factory is permanent changing and optimizing. To be competitive as such in the future, we must exploit all possibilities of optimization“, says CEO Stiehl.

The four manufacturing planning team members are regularly deploying taraVRbuilder at two work spaces permanently identifying efficiency spares at the assembly lines of all four factories. Using the integrated license-free viewer, designs can be locally communicated and discussed via email or intranet – very helping, if you are just designing a new factory extension like Rauch Moebelwerke. Previously to the utilization of taraVRbuilder such a project was only resting on expert knowledge. Indeed the planning professionals’ knowledge should not be underestimated, but still decisions about amount and positioning of staff and machines were made on instinct and did not reached the accurate exactness provided by tarakos’ taraVRbuilder. Higher planning reliability, especially by investment needs of over one million Euros, drastically reduces the risk of wrong decisions.

Faster outcomes due to quick implementation and intuitive usage

Permanently looking for ways to improve efficiency, Rauch Moebelwerke became attentive of taraVRbuilder early 2006. After a one-week-trial it came quickly to a decision. The Windows-based software’s outstanding cost/performance-ratio and slimness outnumbered its competitors. The integration of the taraVRbuilder-possibilities into the planning process proceeded fast and smooth due to the easy and intuitive utilization, which requested only few practicing.

For Rauch Moebelwerke’s manufacturing scheduler the software‘s advantages are obvious. Especially the 3D visualization considerably accelerates planning projects. Complex 2D drawings with many details can easily overstrain people‘s imaginativeness and most of the time staff’s technical understanding is not on the same level. The accurate three-dimensional layout demonstration facilitates co-operation of involved specialists and enables the utilization of company-wide expertise. Decisions are made faster and fewer meetings are needed. “These are valuable gains of efficiency“, says Stiehl.

Additional surplus value provides taraVRbuilder’s compatibility to CAD systems. At Rauch Moebelwerke the in-house machine manufacturer are easily able to export CAD data of their special purpose tools enabling the one-to-one reproduction of the machines in virtual reality. For everything else, the software-integrated item libraries can be used. All schemes, for example forklifts or gantry cranes, are extensively parameterizable. In this way the visualization of entire assembly lines inclusive staff is possible in an easy manner. “At the beginning we painfully missed the feature of a ‘processing time per unit‘. tarakos was immediately responsive to it and designed this item. Cooperation is outstanding“, says manufacturing scheduler Bachmann. “Overall, the software was ideal for us.“

A statement, to which CEO Stiehl willingly assents: „The implementation of tarakos’ taraVRbuilder is a great benefit. The installation of assembly lines is accelerated, planning criteria are more accurate, profitability calculations are more precise and decisions are made faster. That increases our efficiency and enables us to pursue our way. “