Case Studies
Kalmar - Driving Precision on the Moving Line
How VersaCall Brought Real-Time Clarity to a Complex Vehicle Assembly Operation
Client Overview
A vehicle manufacturing facility operating a large-scale moving assembly line was seeking to modernize how it tracked production, coordinated teams, and diagnosed downtime. The operation spans more than 100 work stations across five separate lines: three subassembly lines and a final assembly line, along with a dedicated quality inspection and rework operation. A long-time customer, the manufacturer partnered with VersaCall on a complex integration effort spanning multiple onsite and offsite software systems, including the plant’s existing Manufacturing Execution System (MES).
Key Challenges
As the operation grew in complexity, plant leadership identified a number of gaps limiting throughput, quality, and coordination across the floor:
- Need for tools that could integrate with the existing MES system rather than operate as a disconnected system
- Limited visibility into build status at both the plant floor and management level
- Difficulty consistently improving First Time Pass across production
- Production issues going unresolved for too long due to delayed communication and limited visibility into line-level problems
- Inability to clearly identify what specific issues were driving lost Takt Time
- No way to set precise, day-by-day and week-by-week production schedules, making it difficult to pinpoint exactly where and when downtime was occurring
Production Environment
This is a complex, tightly coordinated manufacturing operation linking three subassembly lines with a final assembly line, a multi-station quality inspection operation, and a dedicated rework area. Completed subassemblies feed the final assembly line through a minimal buffer of completed units, adding pressure to keep subassembly output precisely paced with final assembly demand. Once a vehicle completes final assembly, it proceeds through a multi-station quality inspection process before final release. Any vehicle requiring correction is routed through a rework operation and re-verified before moving forward. With over 100 work stations across five lines, maintaining real-time coordination and visibility across every stage of the process was a significant operational challenge.
VersaCall Solution
VersaCall implemented a system purpose-built to bring real-time visibility, coordination, and precision to a high-complexity moving assembly line environment. The solution included:
MES Integration
VersaCall provided seamless, two-way integration with the client’s existing MES system. Key production data, including Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), vehicle build start and end times, and current and future build schedules, is pulled directly from the MES to drive real-time visibility. In turn, VersaCall pushes Over Takt and Downtime data back into the MES, tagged with the specific line, station, operation, issue, and VIN, ensuring both systems stay aligned without duplicate data entry.
End-to-End Floor and Management Visibility
The entire production process, from Sub Assembly to Main Assembly to Quality Inspection, is visible to any team member, from the plant floor to management. Visibility includes serial number tracking by line and station, total units produced, actual versus target performance, and total time over Takt for the day by line, giving every level of the organization a shared, real-time picture of production status.
Real-Time Downtime Identification and Communication
Downtime and its associated reason are logged by serial number, assembly line, and specific station, and are reported both in real time and historically. This immediate visibility into issues as they occur allows teams to respond faster, minimizing the impact of disruptions on the line.
Quality Inspection and Rework Tracking
Quality checks are completed through an interface built directly into VersaCall. Any quality issues are recorded at the point of inspection; minor issues are corrected on the spot, with resolution time captured. Each vehicle then proceeds to road testing as a final quality checkpoint. Any issue surfacing during road testing is recorded and the vehicle is routed to rework; once complete, it re-enters quality inspection and is re-submitted for road testing to confirm the issue is resolved. All quality and rework data captured in VersaCall is shared with the MES and compiled into external reporting tools that pull from both VersaCall and the MES.
Subassembly Buffer Management
VersaCall enables each subassembly line to build and hold a small buffer of completed units, releasing them to the final assembly line only when needed. VersaCall actively manages this buffer to prevent both delays and over-build, ensuring the final assembly line always has the subassemblies it needs, exactly when it needs them.
Custom, Real-Time Production Scheduling
Because the client’s MES system does not support real-time, day-to-day scheduling, VersaCall filled this gap directly. The system allows the client to build fully customizable production schedules, standard or ad hoc, by line, by day, and by month, accounting for early days, emergencies, additional breaks, and holidays. This ensures that all real-time and historical reporting is filtered against actual scheduled work time, giving the client a precise picture of exactly when incidents occurred and when they were resolved.
Business Impact
Following implementation, the client gained a level of visibility and control that had not previously existed on the floor:
- Complete visibility of the entire operation, from vehicle start to final quality seal of approval, easily accessible to both floor operators and management, with all relevant build data and timing available in real time from a single source
- On-time delivery increased, along with a corresponding improvement in customer satisfaction
- Real-time visual data and integrated communication reduced reaction time to downtime incidents, decreasing overall accumulated downtime
- Takt Time was decreased, creating additional capacity for build units per day, week, month, and year
By integrating directly with the client’s MES system, closing the gap in real-time scheduling, and bringing full visibility to a complex, multi-line moving assembly operation, VersaCall became a critical enabler of operational precision for this manufacturer, helping the plant move from fragmented, delayed insight to a coordinated, real-time production environment built for continuous improvement.
