Bicycle production with passion for several generations.
The love of ski racing motivated the company’s founder, Irlbacher Konrad (iko), to set up a specialist sports shop in Rosenheim in 1972. He initially started his specialist sports shop with the production of skis, which were innovative at the time. A passion for mountain and cycling sports soon developed, making iko a competent contact for a perfect mountain and cycling experience. With a wide range of respective products and its own bike brand, iko is located at the foot of the Alps. The company has always been family-run.
Irlbacher Konrad and his son with the same name produced the first bikes in 1982 under the brand name “corrado”, which later became “corratec“. The company has already registered numerous patents. From the beginning of the company’s history, corratec has constantly set new technical standards and developed into one of the most innovative manufacturers of high-quality bicycles. Since then, the corratec brand has been able to celebrate several achievements. Whether in the sports industry with its professional team or several design awards in the bicycle industry – corratec’s passion for bicycles is immense.
Ensure fail-safety and avoid downtimes – with the OPC Router
The initial situation: connection of the ERP system only up to sensor level
corratec relies on an electric overhead conveyor and the Microsoft Dynamics AX ERP system in their production facility. The ERP system connects all departments in the company. That includes, for example, the warehouse, which connects to the system with the help of scanners. However, this connection only extends to the sensor level of corratec production. As a result, the electric overhead conveyor with a Siemens S5 controller could not connect to the ERP system.
Additionally, corratec sensed the need to modernise the visualisation of errors and downtimes of machines. Until now, the visualisation functioned with simple light signals. Since a few years, visualisation has been added to the production, which shows the plant image and errors on a clear dashboard.
The goal: modernisation with the OPC Router
With the goal of modernisation, the corratec production manager, Mr Sagberger, began searching for suitable software that could modernise production in a simple and uncomplicated way. It was significant to Mr Sagberger that the software is capable of pointing out production errors in order to prevent downtimes and production stops. During his search, he found that the OPC Router fulfilled these requirements without any problems. In addition, the OPC Router convinced Mr Sagberger with the very simple connection of business management data and production data, which means that the software more than meets the requirements of the production manager.
The OPC Router was first used about two years ago. The existing Siemens S5 control system was connected to the OPC Router via an IBH interface. That resulted in the first visualisation, which showed plant data and ERP data. corratec switched to a Siemens S7 control system in production about a year later. On the one side, this changeover meant a higher amount of data. On the other side, the OPC Router offered some new features for modernisation of the data transfer. That was an opportunity to restructure the data transfers and the visualisation. That was done with the help of the inray support team and in very close cooperation with corratec, so that the changeover was optimally designed for Mr Sagberger and all requirements could be implemented in a customer-oriented manner.
“The OPC Router is the heart between the database and the ERP system.”
Ralph Sagberger, Production Manager corratec
OPC Router and the FAS visualisation software – the perfect combination for more transparency
In the production of corratec, the OPC Router provides all relevant production and plant data, runs smoothly in the background and prepares all relevant data for visualisation. To visualise this data, corractec uses the FAS (Factory Application Server) from inray.
The FAS and its web interface are very easy to use. Once quickly and easily selected, the desired data is available in the FAS in a preferred manner. In the case of individual requirements and technical questions, inray support is also happy to assist with questions about the FAS to ensure that individual customer requirements can be implemented.
At corratec – thanks to the FAS – several screens display production and plant data in real-time. That enables Mr Sagberger to detect errors or problems in good time and avoid failures and production stops.
“The FAS visualises the current production data in real-time and without programming effort.”
Ralph Sagberger, Production Manager corratec
The result: transparent data transfers from ERP to the control level
With the inray products OPC Router and FAS, corratec has achieved its goal of modernisation in production and successfully implemented its digitalisation strategy. It is now possible to minimise downtimes and production stops and visualise all business management data and production data. The OPC Router and FAS products are used daily at corratec and play an essential part in modernisation of corratec production.
Further information
The OPC Router is software that networks your machines and systems. It enables the connection of all existing systems and can modernise processes sustainably. Our video explains exactly how the OPC Router works, how it can be integrated into your system environment and what advantages it offers your company.
Read also how STIHL uses the OPC Router to increase the automation effect, availability and quality of the automation solutions for manufacturing the products.
See how the OPC Router leads to more transparency and efficiency in port logistics. In our case study, the innovative software solution leads to an optimisation of the handling processes.