The software taraVRbuilder supports Rauch Möbelwerke GmbH, a German furniture manu-facturer, in designing and modifying highly complex assembly lines

Changing customer preferences and increas-ing cost pressure call for permanent read-justment of manufacture. Especially me-dium-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 sup-port and higher planning reliability.

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

Rauch Möbelwerke has one formula of suc-cess: setting standards. Whether environ-mental thresholds, adherence to delivery dates, location responsibility or quality, the furniture manufacturer is always in the fore. “Our complaint quota is well un-der average“, says CEO Michael Stiehl proudly. Only with outstanding performance it is possible to provide sustainable eco-nomic development. Thus Rauch Möbelwerke 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 individuali-zation of customer likings poses a great challenge. Standard solutions are out; special tailored products are in the de-mand. Many designs in even more numerous variations replace series manufacturing. Rauch Möbelwerke meets this challenge of-fering 150 separate designs and an in-creasing diversity of variations.

Higher planning reliability, less cost risk

To be able to deal with the adherent enor-mous logistics effort, you depend on a perfect, in-depth manufacturing planning. Support provides tarakos’ 3D animation and visualization software taraVRbuilder. Us-ing this software, it is possible to de-pict complex installation plans and manu-facturing processes virtual and three-dimensional. Operation procedures can be run through before the commissioning of an assembly line and problems and difficul-ties 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 di-rectly 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 break-down 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 posi-tions are simulated and perfectly synchro-nized before the assembly unit is actually built up. Rauch Möbelwerke 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 estab-lished systems. “In the factory is perma-nent changing and optimizing. To be com-petitive as such in the future, we must exploit all possibilities of optimiza-tion“, says CEO Stiehl.

The four manufacturing planning team mem-bers 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 lo-cally communicated and discussed via email or intranet – very helping, if you are just designing a new factory extension like Rauch Möbelwerke. Previously to the utilization of taraVRbuilder such a pro-ject was only resting on expert knowledge. Indeed the planning professionals’ knowl-edge should not be underestimated, but still decisions about amount and position-ing of staff and machines were made on in-stinct and did not reached the accurate exactness provided by tarakos’ taraVR-builder. Higher planning reliability, es-pecially by investment needs of over one million Euros, drastically reduces the risk of wrong decisions.

Faster outcomes due to quick implementa-tion and intuitive usage

Permanently looking for ways to improve efficiency, Rauch Möbelwerke became atten-tive of taraVRbuilder early 2006. After a one-week-trial it came quickly to a deci-sion. The Windows-based software’s out-standing cost/performance-ratio and slim-ness outnumbered its competitors. The in-tegration 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 Möbelwerke’s manufacturing scheduler the software‘s advantages are obvious. Especially the 3D visualization considerably accelerates planning pro-jects. Complex 2D drawings with many de-tails 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 facili-tates 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 taraVR-builder’s compatibility to CAD systems. At Rauch Möbelwerke the in-house machine manufacturer are easily able to export CAD data of their special purpose tools ena-bling the one-to-one reproduction of the machines in virtual reality. For every-thing 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 respon-sive to it and designed this item. Coop-eration is outstanding“, says manufactur-ing 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 in-stallation of assembly lines is acceler-ated, planning criteria are more accurate, profitability calculations are more pre-cise and decisions are made faster. That increases our efficiency and enables us to pursue our way. “