Intelligent Life

Intelligent Life
BPW has reinvented the trailer running gear from the ground up as a systematically digitised life cycle that extends from development to maintenance – and back again. This is why it continues to dynamically evolve.

COMPLEXITY AND CREATIVITY

WHO SAYS YOU HAVE TO REDUCE COMPLEXITY? BPW DEMONSTRATES HOW TO MASTER COMPLEXITY AND USE IT AS A RESOURCE FOR INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS – WHICH MAKE EVERYTHING EASIER AS A RESULT. THIS SOUNDS PARADOXICAL, BUT IN FACT UNLOCKS ENTIRELY NEW POSSIBILITIES FOR VEHICLE MANUFACTURING AND OPERATION.

Manufacturing running gear, constructing vehicles, day-to-day operation and vehicle maintenance are all highly specialised disciplines. BPW connects all the stages and participants along a complex life cycle that is organised on the basis of a division of labour and is incredibly diverse: medicines, excavated soil, liquefied petroleum gas, bananas or wind turbine blades ... all types of transported goods require optimised transport solutions. How do you create an intelligent, learning and, above all, efficient overall system from this? Sven Pielen, head of Product Development for Standard Vehicle Systems, led the development of the new running gear kit and quotes economist Peter Drucker:

“To make knowledge productive, we will have to learn to see both forest and tree. We will have to learn to connect.”

BORN DIGITAL: THE LIFE OF A RUNNING GEAR IN ITS ENTIRETY

The large infographic on the following pages shows how BPW makes this connection. It begins with the birth of all the individual components as a “digital twin” that knows all of the physical properties and possible combinations. The digital twin accelerates development by simulating and testing running gear on a computer before it is tested in real life. Dr Dirk Nötzke, head of Product Data Management: “Its digital DNA also simplifies configuration and ordering, which enables BPW to reduce tedious process steps for vehicle manufacturers to just a few mouse clicks.” In the future, it will also provide the data needed to input the parameters of the brake system, which previously had to be calculated individually for each running gear. And finally, it controls the entire production process – whereby it is now, for the first time, up to the vehicle manufacturer to decide whether they want to purchase completely pre-assembled modules from BPW or whether they want to assemble the running gear themselves from a modular system at their own factory in order to save time and thus gain flexibility in variant design.

The modular concept was achieved through a stroke of engineering genius: “We offer a greater variety of running gear with a lower variety of individual parts,” explains Sven Pielen, “the key lies in a newly developed and patent-pending laser process that allows us to flexibly control the configuration of air suspension and the axle. The design of the running gear can thus also be decided on late in the assembly process – this enables the vehicle manufacturer to configure a customised running gear on site virtually on demand. The system is so robust that it no longer has to distinguish between on-road and off-road design.”

THE DIGITAL DNA NOT ONLY OPENS UP NEW POSSIBILITIES FOR VEHICLE MANUFACTURING

It accompanies the vehicle for a lifetime. Even 30 years after delivery, its origin can be traced in detail – its “genetic code” is engraved in every single component. Torsten Schubert connected the concept with BPW’s mechatronics expertise: “In this way, we are taking our running gear’s ease of maintenance typical of the brand to a new level – the workshop can identify and order spare parts in seconds, for example by smartphone and tablet; and manuals and installation instructions are also available digitally and on mobile devices. The information that BPW thus continuously obtains about the operation of the vehicle flows directly back into the development process – the modular concept for the first time enables fluid, ongoing advancement in every detail, instead of the development cycles customary in the industry, which last an average of seven years. As a result, every BPW running gear always reflects the latest advancements in technology.

Development at BPW

Every single component has a digital counterpart, which is loaded with information about its technical specifications, as well as application and combination options. It even has a memory.

Configuration at the vehicle manufacturer

From ten trillion possibilities, a vehicle manufacturer can configure running gear online in just a few clicks that exactly meet its customer's requirements. Even beginners can manage this - and it makes pros more creative. The vehicle's CAD data can be downloaded directly for construction. In the futute, BPW will deliver the data for automatic parameter input of the brake system along with this.

Order

The buyer orders the fully configured running gear by mouse click: the configurator offers direct order functions as well as interfaces to the customer's ERP system and to production at BPW.

Component production

The digital DNA of the running gear comes into being once is made: a QR code deciphers the entire technical content, controls the production process and also assists with maintenance and the spare parts service.

Choose your mounting method

Running gear assembly at BPW
Running gear assembly at the vehicle manufacturer

Running gear assembly at BPW

BPW is the flagship company of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy for Industry 4.0: this is also evident in the high-precision assembly of complete running gear modules.

Module assembly at the vehicle manufacturer

When, how, where to and the degree of assembly in which BPW delivers fully pre-assembled modules can be determined in advance by the vehicle manufacturer using the online configurator.

Running gear assembly at the vehicle manufacturer

If requested, BPW will make the complete installation facility available - for rent or pay-per-use operates a digital warehouse that automatically orders supplies.

This way, vehicle manufacturer can also integrate running gear assembly with the BPW modular system directly into its own plant. This shortens the ten-day response time to two hours.

BPW developed the running gear in such a way that the exact design is dedicated very late on in the production process. Meaning: assembly in real time, shorter delivery times, more flexibility and lower storage costs.