Digital mini-factory
With support from the Fabrikant Mads Clausen Foundation, the Section has set up a digital mini-factory that serves as a central platform for teaching and experimentation in the fields of modern production and operations management.
The factory is designed to illustrate the overall production flow and the key decisions made in a production context. This includes inventory management and policies, planning and scheduling methods, warehousing and more. Through practical work, the students get the opportunity to analyse the consequences of various decisions within a realistic and integrated production setup.
The mini-factory is incorporated into the teaching on several degree programmes:
- On the Bachelor of Engineering programme in Manufacturing Engineering and Management, the students take an introductory course in PLC and robot programming in the laboratory.
- On the Master of Engineering programme in Operations Management, the factory is used for seminar assignments and in the course Digitalisation in Operations Management, in which it provides a framework for analyses and development projects.
The physical setup consists of a conveyor belt, a 2D linear gantry robot and a 3D spatial gantry robot. Both robots are fitted with SICK grippers, which enables the automated handling of workpieces within the production flow.
The control system is based on an integrated solution consisting of a PLC, a PC and a robot controller, which in combination ensure the coordination, control and monitoring of the factory’s processes.