Transformation into a digital factory: KSB’s pump plant in Pegnitz

What is a smart or digital factory – and what does that mean for KSB?

A smart factory is generally defined as a production facility in which the many processes are largely self-organising. From order intake to goods logistics and production through to delivery, all machines and products are digitally and intelligently networked together via cyber-physical systems. For example, such a factory might have transport containers that use sensors to transmit information about their individual code, current position and filling level via radio link to the central control software – and from there, in turn, to machines that need certain components at that particular time. In the best case scenario, humans no longer have to intervene in the production process.

What are the advantages of a smart factory?

Intelligent automation of processes significantly increases efficiency and flexibility, reduces production costs and shortens the production time per unit. The transmitted data also ensures comprehensive digital transparency (ideally in real time), which provides a reliable basis for making valid decisions, e.g. in production, machine maintenance, goods logistics, etc. Production can thus be adapted to changing customer needs more quickly, enabling mass customisation. Overall, customer satisfaction increases and competitiveness on the market improves.

Internally, digitalisation can help to improve employee satisfaction and therefore employee retention in times when there is a shortage of skilled workers – but only if employees are systematically involved in the change process from the outset.

KSB is systematically pursuing the path to digitalisation

Creating such fully integrated smart factories is also KSB’s vision. To achieve this, existing plants must be transformed one by one. However, due to differences in framework conditions worldwide as well as local circumstances, KSB assesses each of its factories individually. Furthermore, KSB manufactures very different products, which means very different requirements and challenges. Producing a small circulator pump for basements involves different requirements to producing a reactor coolant pump for a nuclear power plant.

You can think of the digital factory as a kind of target vision that KSB is outlining and continuously developing together with its plants. Here, lean production and digitalisation need to go hand in hand. The end result is flexible and modular production that is highly automated, digitalised and fully networked from order intake to production planning through to outgoing logistics. This is the only way to ensure agile, lean and maximally customer-oriented production in the future.

From pilot project to benchmark: Digitalisation based on the example of KSB’s pump plant in Pegnitz

The quest to instigate major changes often involves major difficulties in implementing them in practice. To avoid this situation, extensive preliminary planning was undertaken for the Digital Factory project in Pegnitz. First and foremost, it was important to define what exactly becoming a ‘smart factory’ or introducing ‘smart manufacturing’ could mean for the plant. In 2018, KSB started to identify areas of the Pegnitz pump plant that could serve as pilot projects for the digital factory – both in production and administration. 

‘Pain points’ were turned into ‘use cases’

To facilitate this process, KSB's Global Operations developed a Digital Factory Plant Assessment. In this assessment, the experts precisely analysed the current starting point in the plant, looking at how lean it was and the level of digitalisation. On this basis, the biggest ‘pain points’ and thus the most promising areas for improvement and the first possible use cases for digitalisation were identified in cooperation with the local colleagues and the external partner (Neonex). In the next step, the team jointly developed the implementation strategy (Lean & Digitalisation Roadmap). 

The introduction and implementation process itself broke new ground by following the Agile methodology. Whereas in the past projects were planned in detail from A to Z, the project team relied on applications, so-called ‘use cases’. Milestones were defined within these use cases. Workshops known as ‘sprints’ were held at short regular intervals – usually weekly – to discuss the current status and define the new target process. Thanks to these short sprints, the team was able to quickly correct negative developments and achieve their goals on time. 

Where are we now?

Three use cases based on this Agile methodology were implemented at the Pegnitz plant in the first year. Progress as at April 2022 (worldwide):

• 12 pilot use cases started
• 7 of which are already being rolled out
• 3 more pilot use cases are in planning
• 36 rollouts started 
• 16 use case rollouts completed 

Use cases for digital transformation have been successfully started at a number of plants in China, South Africa, Luxembourg, every Indian plant, every French plant and every German plant.

Major opportunities come from major challenges: 10 key learning takeaways on the path to digitalisation

During both the planning and implementation phases of the use cases, the teams encountered issues that no one had anticipated in advance. This made it all the more important to analyse these problems in detail in order to learn from them for future projects. In the following, we outline ten key learning takeaways for KSB, which will undoubtedly be useful for similar transformation projects.

1. It is important to focus on just a few topics and not to start too many projects at once. Allow a sufficient personnel buffer in your planning.
2. Change management is not a one-off event that is finished at some point; it is an ongoing journey with phases of varying lengths. Targets are only ever interim targets.
3. A structured approach with lean processes and flat hierarchies provides the basis for successful project management.
4. Extremely important: ensuring the acceptance and involvement of the affected employees. It often takes more time and effort to get the employees on board than to introduce the software at the technical level.
5. Modern, inclusive, team- and solution-oriented leadership methods are needed.
6. If you do not have the necessary expertise in digital transformation yourself, it is advisable to find a strong external partner.
7. Rolling out a use case is often more difficult than setting up the pilot project. Even if numerous colleagues were involved in designing the pilot, their perspective changes when the employees themselves are affected during the rollout.
8. Not all digitalisation use cases make sense for all production operations or, more generally, for all companies. Digitalisation should never be an end in itself.
9. A powerful IT infrastructure is essential for any form of digitalisation.
10.  When selecting suitable software at the beginning of the project, it emerged that KSB had taken an approach that was too Europe-oriented. As the price level in non-European countries is completely different, a use case may not turn out to be economical abroad. A clear geographical limitation or an international software selection setup/team is therefore recommended.

Summary and conclusion

Intelligent automation of processes in production plants offers huge potential for improvements in efficiency and quality, cost reductions and greater customer satisfaction and competitiveness. However, the path to digital transformation should be well planned, coordinated and structured right from the very outset. A combination of lean processes, digital support and motivated, well-qualified employees is the key to success. We would be happy to support you with our experience and expertise in this field – just get in touch with us!