CP Factory illustrates the practical implementation of digital production. This comprehensive, modular and expandable factory model for Industry 4.0 can be used to model many parts of the value chain. CP Factory integrates all the relevant technologies from mechatronics and automation.

What does CP mean?
Cyber-physical systems permit the intelligent networking of people, products and production resources. Communication networks and physical systems thus merge into a single entity – an important characteristic for Industry 4.0 and also found in CP Factory.

CP Factory – the universal Industry 4.0 research and learning platform
CP Factory reflects the new developments in Industry 4.0 in networked production and offers a modular Smart Factory system for teaching and research purposes. The learning system includes not only the assembly line, but also different areas of production such as lean production, logistics and quality assurance.

A modular system par excellence
Our decades of experience in the construction of modular learning systems are reflected in many of the details of a CP Factory. All stations and application modules are equipped with the very latest industrial technology. The concept and equipment demonstrate our innovative approach.

The result
Every CP Factory can be reconfigured in minutes – depending on the learning situation – and turned into a convertible factory.

Learning on two sides
The double-sided construction of the cells facilitates different scenarios for group work and interdisciplinary team work:

• students can work independently on the two sides on one section of the belt each.
• The two sections of the belt in a station can be linked using a passive corner pulley to form one complete circulating belt system.

Stand-alone or system network
The basic features of the CP Factory determine the appearance of the system:

• Wide transfer belt for pallet transportation
• Application modules above the conveyor
• Variable system layout, providing freedom for designing individual, partner and group workstations

The standardised stations can be positioned differently. A laboratory made up of individual workstations can very quickly be turned into one or more production lines focusing on different areas of automation.

Training content stored in the application module
The learning system is based around flexibly combinable modular stations, which are then used to realise different application modules. These determine the training content provided by the stations. Thanks to the use of standard interfaces, application modules can be interchanged in just a few minutes. This permits fast conversion for different training situations and content. Topics such as drive technology, control engineering, image processing, sequencing or operating mode programming can be found in the following functional modules:

• Stacking magazine and turning handling modules
• Drilling and CNC engraving processing modules
• Press module
• Pad printing and drying modules
• Camera inspection testing module

RFID process control
The product performs process control in the CP Factory. To achieve this, the workpieces and controllers are equipped with RFID technology.

Production control systems
The production control system MES4, which has been developed specially for use in learning systems, brings together all the most important production data. The service-oriented architecture of MES4 makes it possible to retrieve information from the production cells if required.