A lot can happen in five years.
It’s long enough to see new consumer trends like EVs emerge. If you work in the automotive industry, it might be the full lifespan of your product models. And it’s long enough to have changed the way you interact with robotic joining process data.
Five years ago, in 2020, Dressler Automation’s software solution RoboLive® was first made available to public customers. The product was created from a simple question: how could the handling of this data be made more efficient, effective, and easy?
The answer had a big impact. Using RoboLive®, Dressler Automation’s first software clients discovered what the whole automotive industry has now come to realize. Understanding your data is the key to quality and efficiency in manufacturing—but having proper digitalization tools is the first step.
DRESSLER AUTOMATION
If it seems like RoboLive® was perfectly made to suit the exact body shop problems you have, that’s because it is. The software solution was initially developed as an internal tool for the system integration team at Dressler Automation, an internationally-trusted electrical engineering firm with over 50 years of experience.
Dressler Automation was founded in Schöppenstedt, Germany, in 1970 as one of the first names in the emerging field of industrial robotics. Over the years, Dressler Automation’s business spread to include many well-known names in OEM manufacturing and Tier-1 part supply. In 2011, the company opened its American headquarters in Chattanooga, TN. Nicknamed Gig City, Chattanooga is known for more than just it’s vibrant automotive manufacturing scene: it’s a fast-growing innovation hub for emerging technology and ideas. The Chattanooga headquarters saw the establishment of the company’s first software development office in 2019, to take advantage of the growing Industry 4.0 wave with internally developed solutions.
INTRODUCING ROBOLIVE® VISUAL
At the heart of every good invention is a problem. And the problems that automotive manufacturers face and their integrators were intimately familiar to us, as they probably are to anyone working in the industry. Touch-ups introduce changes that go untracked. Parameters are obscure and hard to access. Communication is difficult without a single source of truth for all robot data, and the lack of updated documentation introduces measurable consequences related to scrap and downtime.
Most of these problems have long been accepted as the cost of doing business in the manufacturing industry. After all, automotive production involved massive volumes of complicated data: a single model in production can involve thousands of processes, hundreds of robots, and dozens of variants. While rudimentary tools and inhouse solutions exist, there’s no good all-in-one option for tracking all robotic joining process data in one place.
RoboLive® was created to break that status quo. Dressler Automation’s system integration team was looking for a way to easily keep track of the progress and status of commissioning projects: to visualize robotic joining processes as they were programmed and proactively identify any issues with them. More importantly, the system would be used to ensure the quality of commissioning work at handover, both for the engineers turning over the lines and for the client accepting them.
RoboLive® proved to be a more than effective solution. In addition to being useful for tracking the quality of commissioning work, Dressler Automation’s engineers and the client both saw an immediate use for the software in continuing production. Quality teams could benefit from the instant access to parameter data for tasks like RCA, while the automatically compiled timeline provided hands-free change tracking and version control. The accessibility of the software meant that anyone from weld analysts to plant management could easily understand all production data in a glance—something that had never been achieved before.
And so, the public version of RoboLive® Visual was born. The manufacturing client’s 1,000+ robots were integrated with an onsite virtual server, and the software was installed around the plant through the unlimited license program. Almost immediately after the project was launched, the client was convinced of the value of the software—and continues to rely on it today for all models produced.
WE MEAN SUCCESS
RoboLive®’s first public client has since made the tool a production standard and relies on it every day to ensure quality in their vehicles. And when the software’s value became apparent, it was quickly adopted by other facilities and industries.
RoboLive® is deployed at our first customer and the software is made available to public clients.
To support first users in EV battery manufacturing, RoboLive® is updated with new features and visualization tools.
The updated complex variant management system is developed to support users with unique product variant setups.
RoboLive® is adapted for first Tier-1 part supplier clients and is made available to first European users.
RoboLive®'s integration process is streamlined into the new Server, Service, and Setup plans.
Thanks to the first customer in South America, RoboLive® is now used across three continents.
The internal software project that would later become RoboLive® enters development at Dressler Automation's US software office.
RoboLive® is deployed at our first customer and the software is made available to public clients.
To support first users in EV battery manufacturing, RoboLive® is updated with new features and visualization tools.
The updated complex variant management system is developed to support users with unique product variant setups.
RoboLive® is adapted for first Tier-1 part supplier clients and is made available to first European users.
RoboLive®'s integration process is streamlined into the new Server, Service, and Setup plans.
Thanks to the first customer in South America, RoboLive® is now used across three continents.
The internal software project that would later become RoboLive® enters development at Dressler Automation's US software office.
Part suppliers, for example, have found value in the software’s ability to prove standards compliance and document changes. The RoboLive® team has worked to ensure flexible pricing structures that can meet the needs of organizations of any size, and we’re always developing new features and tools to expand the functionality across industries. Gap fill visualization, for example, has been added to the process visualizations to support the needs of EV battery manufacturers.
THE FUTURE OF ROBOLIVE®
As we reflect on 5 years of offering quality software solutions, we are also looking forward to the future of RoboLive®’s offerings. We have a full roadmap of new features, options, and packages planned for RoboLive® Visual, plus advancing our bespoke development capabilities to meet the changing needs of modern manufacturers.
It’s a future that’s worth celebrating–and that’s why we’re commemorating this anniversary with a special program for select participants that will give you access to RoboLive Setup and Serviced updates for a greatly reduced rate. The Anniversary program will be made available to 5 applicants during the month of July, so keep an eye on our website and LinkedIn for more information this summer.
