Cooper-Standard employs cutting-edge technology at German plant

WUERSELEN, Germany—Cooper-Standard Automotive Inc. is employing an advanced digital-measurement technology in profile-cutting processes at its Lindau, Germany, plant, which produces sealings for automotive body shells.

The network-based SawControl module ensures defective portions of the profiles are cut out "with the highest precision" in an automated inline process, according to Pixargus, which supplied the technology.

"The Pixargus module integrates the profile cutting process into our quality control system," said Dominik Schramm, senior manager of global center of competence and sealing extrusion at Cooper Standard.

"With the module, we can establish a straightforward link to the sawing unit control, even in existing lines using older models. This helps us reduce waste to an absolute minimum," Schramm said.

Networking of data plays a key role in achieving Industry 4.0 in production, said Pixargus, which specializes in intelligent profile inspection systems that communicate with the cutting unit in the extrusion line.

The new SawControl software module uses data from a Pixargus inspection system to optimize profile cutting, according to the company based in Würselen, near Aachen.

The system is designed to ensure that all profiles cut to the lengths specified by a customer are free of defects and that any profile sections containing flaws are cut out at minimized lengths.