As a development partner for PackAssistant, Audi AG has been working with the software for many years and particularly benefits from the software's rapid calculations in its co-operation with suppliers. The enormous potential savings that can be realized through optimal packing of parts in large quantities can be seen in the case of a rear light for an automobile:
When setting up a production facility, the series production of the X-Bow sports car, KTM Power Sports AG used PackAssistant to plan container sizes and the optimal packing of 450 parts. Since neither real parts nor prototypes were available during the set-up phase, planning was carried out using CAD data for the parts. Strategic planning for the containers revolved around the future logistics processes, flow of materials and the production cycle within the plant.
With PackAssistant it was possible to shorten the times for planning and implementation of new containers by more than 50 percent: compared with the industry standard of nine to twelve months, using PackAssistant KTM needed just four months. PackAssistant enabled a comparison of different packing types and container models. This way, planners could generate a concept for each individual part before developing standard containers and special containers for each. The KTM planners were able to create a concept for each individual part and an overall plan for the use of both standard and specialized containers.
The geobra Brandstätter Stiftung & Co. KG, manufacturer of the PLAYMOBIL figures, uses about 18 000 different injection molding tools to produce plastic parts for a large variety of »play worlds«. For the products introduced in 2015 this involved 1 000 new parts. The packaging of the parts has to be planned in order to estimate and optimize logistics costs.
»Only by use of the PackAssistant technology could we get all relevant packaging data before the primary production. Thus, time-consuming packing tests could be avoided.«
Karina Freund, Department REFA, geobra Brandstätter Stiftung & Co. KG
PackAssistant is the leading software for container load planning.