eepos crane systems in the Fendt tractor factory
Feather-light handling for massive power packs
The project undertaken by the AGCO Group as the manufacturer of Fendt tractors could hardly have been more demanding: they aimed to build the world’s most modern and efficient tractor and agricultural machinery assembly plant. This facility began operation in the Bavarian towns of Marktoberdorf and Bäumeheim in autumn 2012, featuring innovative lightweight handling systems from eepos.
By 75, Fendt had reached the capacity limits of its previous production halls, with sales increasing by 15.000 percent to around 2012 tractors worldwide over the past fifteen years. The existing facilities lacked both sufficient space and routes, and the assembly technology was outdated, no longer able to accommodate the size and weight of the tractors being produced.
“eepos convinced us with its unsurpassed smoothness.”
Patrick Müller
Planning Engineer Team Technology, AGCO GmbH
Ergonomic handling of 10.000 components per tractor
Each Fendt tractor is made up of around 10.000 components, making material handling a crucial part of the assembly process. The goal of the new concept was not only to create an ergonomic and worker-friendly handling solution but also to ensure maximum flexibility. In the new tractor factory, 48 different models across eight series are now produced on a single assembly line, ranging from the smallest special tractor for winegrowing to the 390-hp powerhouse for performance-intensive applications in agriculture, forestry, and construction. To achieve this, all Fendt tractors are also customized according to customer requirements. Key technical innovations include the entirely new crane systems from the North Rhine-Westphalian manufacturer eepos, now used at every workstation.
“We put the crane systems in question through their paces in advance,” Müller explains the selection process. Handling systems from different manufacturers were loaded with the same components of different weight classes on test stands and their functionality, ease of movement and wear were tested.
Almost 30 Fendt assembly line experts who work with the systems every day were the evaluators.
Project Manager Müller: “The absolute favorite in this comparison was the lightweight aluminum cranes from eepos, which are still relatively new on the market. eepos impressed with its unsurpassed lightness.” With a load of 100 kg, a worker only needs 0,5 to 0,8 kg of force to get the system moving and only 0,2 to 0,4 kg to keep it moving. On average, this corresponds to only a third of the pulling force of conventional handling systems.
“The reason for this ease of movement lies in the sophisticated aluminum profiles of the crane tracks in a combination of materials with special precision chassis in which rollers made of high-tech plastics are arranged in an optimal way and prevent tilting even when pulled on one side,” explains eepos sales manager Volkhardt Mücher.
Thanks to the low rolling resistance, Fendt workers can move the huge number of individual parts per tractor, which weigh up to 500 kg, not only faster but also more ergonomically. In addition, eepos aluminum crane systems have a modular design and are therefore extremely flexible in use.
More than one and a half kilometers of eepos crane tracks
In order to make the assembly content on the main assembly line manageable and efficient, nearby pre-assemblies serve the main assembly line with prefabricated assemblies. These assemblies are assembled in the respective pre-assembly and from there delivered just-in-time or just-in-sequence to the main installation site. eepos handling systems are used at Fendt in both pre-assembly and main assembly. In the pre-assembly alone, this amounts to around 400 meters of monorails and 30 bridges. The pre-assembled assemblies are then assembled onto the tug hull in the main assembly line. A further 1.200 meters of eepos crane tracks and a further 50 bridges have been installed there. Four monorail systems share the main belt here. To the left and right of the main belt there are 2,45 meter and 3 meter wide bridges; 5 meter bridge systems span the entire width of the main belt where necessary. The placement and selection of the crane elements was based exclusively on the logistical feasibility of installing the assemblies and ergonomic aspects.
“For example, with 3 meter wide crane bridges, the workers can mount from the side to the middle of the tractor body. With 5 meter wide crane bridges can be installed on all sides,” explains planning expert Müller.
"While our old handling systems worked with fixed points, i.e. with sockets or compressed air outlets screwed onto shelves, we now work with flexible media systems from left and right across the entire cycle length. This flexibility is made possible by, among other things, the telescopic eepos bridges, which, depending on the Crane bridge extend the working range by 1,20 metres to 1,60 metres.”
Maintenance routes for easy retrofitting during assembly
When planning the crane runways, Patrick Mueller's team also took maintenance routes into account. “We can switch off individual railway areas in so-called maintenance sections,” explains the engineer. This is necessary, for example, if the installation location of a module changes or new modules are added for newly developed tractors. In these cases z. B. new crane bridges are retrofitted or existing ones are converted. “In the initial phase after commissioning, one or two modifications were necessary,” said the AGCO chief planner. “In practice, some processes simply look different than in preliminary planning on paper. However, we were able to implement the changes to the eepos aluminum crane systems with little effort.” The most modern agricultural machinery production in the world has been running in two shifts since September 2012. eepos cranes are in use for an average of 2 hours per working day. The crane expert's first non-regular check was particularly pleasing: the visual and functional inspection did not reveal any increased wear on the bridges, their attachments or the railway suspension. Patrick Mueller: “Marktoberdorf, as the world’s most modern agricultural machinery plant, now serves as a prototype for our AGCO Group.”
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