Flexible mini-factory for local and customized production in a container

The CassaMobile vision was to provide a local, flexible and environmentally friendly production of highly customized parts through a “Flexible Mini-Factory in a container”

To achieve the „Flexible Mini-Factory for local and customized production in a container”, the project used advanced production equipment and innovative systems to enable fast and cost-effective manufacturing of customized products at the location of need, at the required time.

CassaMobile developed a mobile, flexible, modular, small-footprint manufacturing system in a 20’ ISO-container that can be easily configured for different products and processes. The container format allows transport to provide on-site manufacturing anywhere, enabling the benefits of localized service delivery without duplication of equipment at multiple locations. This will create a significant impact by enabling manufacturers to respond to rapidly changing market dynamics with high value-added products whilst reducing time-to-market, cost, environmental footprint and set-up time.

CassaMobile aims also at enabling more flexible production with more customization possibilities (using a concept with different processing modules, which are connected by an adaptive control system), which is internally very advanced, but still easy to control and configure. In order to realize this goal the project targeted four specific objectives:

• Modular mini-factory system
• Easy-to-use product customization and system configuration using an advanced Human Machine Interface (HMI)
• Task-driven adaptive automation system for rapid reconfiguration
• Integrated modular manufacturing system and process modules for Plug & Produce systems for ultra-fast and cost-effective manufacturing of fully customized products
• Technical container for localized production systems under defined environmental conditions

The project started in September 2013 and ended in August 2016. Critical Manufacturing led the development of Software Interfaces allowing an easy, visual interaction with services provided by the software of the Mini-Factory Container, such as configuration of entities and management of maintenance requests.