Metris Visual Die Protection monitors car body production

Even the smallest errors, such as defective dies or tooling elements, scrap accumulation, or cracks in the components, can cause significant costs and impair production efficiency. Such damages would lead to production downtime and additional maintenance costs.

To protect the dies and keep production running smoothly, Smart Press Shop GmbH & Co. KG – an innovative joint venture between Porsche AG and ANDRITZ Schuler based in Halle (Saale), Germany – relies on the monitoring system Metris Visual Die Protection (VDP). VDP uses advanced camera technologies and image processing algorithms to continuously monitor the condition of the dies in real-time. The system detects foreign objects and scrap accumulation in the tools as well as cracks in components at an early stage, stops the system immediately if necessary, and thus prevents potential damage before it affects the production process.

"Visual Die Protection has enabled us to proactively protect our dies and maintain availability at a consistently high level," says Hendrik Rothe, Managing Director of Smart Press Shop. "The further possibilities for monitoring processes in the press and the dies are extremely promising and are already showing success."

The implementation process at Smart Press Shop went quickly and smoothly. Employees received training to optimally use the system and are developing it further together with experts from ANDRITZ Schuler. By analyzing the image data collected throughout the entire production batch, weaknesses in the dies are identified and specifically improved. In addition, Smart Press Shop has many other digital solutions from Metris that support intelligent and sustainable manufacturing.