The CEIT’s automated guided vehicle in action at the Volkswagen Slovakia plant in Bratislava. (source: Courtesy of VW Slovakia)
Classical music may come as a surprising sound to hear when walking along the production line at the Volkswagen plant in Bratislava, where the latest car models are being assembled. It is the sound the yellow intelligent mobile robots are emitting to signal people to clear the way for them. These automated guided vehicles making sure that the plant’s internal logistics run smoothly are one of the bestknown innovations developed by the Žilina-based technology company CEIT. After they were successfully tested and implemented in the Volkswagen Slovakia (VW SK) plant in the capital, this solution will be used in other plants of the group.Classical music may come as a surprising sound to hear when walking along the production line at the Volkswagen plant in Bratislava, where the latest car models are being assembled. It is the sound the yellow intelligent mobile robots are emitting to signal people to clear the way for them. These automated guided vehicles making sure that the plant’s internal logistics run smoothly are one of the bestknown innovations developed by the Žilina-based technology company CEIT. After they were successfully tested and implemented in the Volkswagen Slovakia (VW SK) plant in the capital, this solution will be used in other plants of the group.
While parent companies generally tend to keep research and development (R&D) of their products in their home countries, experts see innovations in processes as a space for R&D in Slovakia.
“Many technological and R&D centres in Slovakia are making R&D of products that are later used in other plants of the group, too,” the Slovak Investment
and Trade Development Agency (SARIO) told The Slovak Spectator. The producer of CEIT mobile robots, for example, will supply its innovative solution in the group’s plants Audi Györ in Hungary and Škoda Mladá Boleslav in the Czech Republic.
High innovation potential in Slovakia
In addition to Volkswagen, carmakers Kia Motors, PSA Groupe and Jaguar Land Rover have built their most modern plants in Slovakia. Coupled with the general
growth of the automotive sector in central Europe, this has been followed by the development of a comprehensive supply network of more than 350 companies.
SARIO notes two trends in particular. The first one is that several first-tier suppliers that have been well established within Slovakia as well as within the international groups to which they supply their products are gradually launching or extending their technological centres. The second trend is that many important industrial players in Slovakia are gradually gaining capacities and budgets to optimise their plants. This results in the creation of wider teams in charge of process innovations and the implementation of the latest solutions in the field of Industry 4.0.
“The innovation potential of Slovakia remains high,” said SARIO, which has been playing an active role in the implementation of process innovations and Industry
4.0 solutions in Slovak companies. It does so via its Innovation Services – a platform for connecting innovative Slovak technology companies with large, especially industrial, players in Slovakia.
Peter Blaškovitš, general director of the Slovak Innovation and Energy Agency (SIEA), noted that innovations can be found even in sectors where one would
not expect them, for example in forestry, agriculture or beekeeping.
One example is the team of young IT experts IoT Včeličky, which developed a project for monitoring beehives. The project helps beekeepers stay up-to-date with what is happening inside their beehives and ensure timely intervention in case of a problem.
“Opportunities for innovations are everywhere around us; you just need to look around with open eyes and a free mind,” said Blaškovitš.
Transferable solutions CEIT’s solution for smart internal logistics is an important
innovation the VW carmaker implemented a few years ago. It is not just about moving material from one point to another through a predefined path, but a complex system comprised of automated guided vehicles, reloading stations and dynamic conveyors, which take the material to the required place at the exact time as well as load and unload the material autonomously.
The system also processes data from production, responds to data flexibly, and can make decisions independently. Today, it is implemented in the production halls of renowned carmakers as well as in automotive industry supplier companies. It can be used effectively in every industry.
“Volkswagen Slovakia is a pioneer in the use of the latest technologies at the European and global level,” Lucia Kovarovič Makayová, the carmaker’s spokesperson, told The Slovak Spectator. Approximately 2,000 robots are installed in its production halls and the plant uses augmented reality and virtual reality, big data, online production monitoring and a smart hand glove with a scanner for reading QR codes, just to mention a few.
VW SK was also the first plant within the group to produce electric vehicles, but has since shared its expertise and competence with the group’s other plants.
“The exchange of experience works very well at the group level; our plant serves in several areas as an example for other group factories, where we transfer our know-how, but we also implement best practices from other countries and plants,” said Kovarovič Makayová.
The Žilina-based Kia Motors Slovakia, the only production plant of Kia Motors in Europe, has also been contributing to the optimisation of the production processes within the whole group.
“In the recent past, for example, we introduced the Smart Tag system, with which we can monitor the exact position of each car in the production process on individual lines,” Ján Žgravčák, spokesperson of Kia Motors Slovakia, told The
Slovak Spectator, adding that this innovation was introduced in the brand new plant in India that opened in August 2019.
In addition, the plant was the first in the Hyundai Motor Group to introduce ECU (engine control unit) programming directly on the production line.
They have reduced the software update in the warehouse, reduced costs and have sped up the whole process. Next year, the programming of the transmission control unit will undergo a similar change, noted Žgravčák.
These innovations are not limited to production.
“A unique solution in Kia Motors Slovakia is the Job Rotation Planning system within the HQS (Health, Quality, Speed) system,” said Žgravčák. “It can automatically plan the rotation of employees at different workstations according to the complexity of the work process so as to prevent health complications caused by repeated movements.”
Apart from global players in the automotive sector, process innovations have been developed in BSH Michalovce and Whirlpool, both engaged in major appliances; Embraco, which produces compressors; Protherm, which manufactures hydraulic modules; and ON Semiconductors, which manufactures semiconductors, according to SARIO.
Industrial analyst Martin Jesný mentioned the automotive supplier Adient as another example. Its process innovations developed by its business service centre in Bratislava include the automation of accounting and controlling processes.
Its team has developed the Just Trade application, which offers complete automation in the flow of goods from EU member countries into non-member countries and vice versa.
“Thanks to this online platform Adient can eliminate any stoppages that commonly occur when goods are crossing borders,” Michal Hudec, manager IT Applications Development in Adient told The Slovak Spectator.
It allows documents to arrive at the customs office even before the goods them-
selves, then the goods smoothly transit across borders.
The Bratislava team is also working on the automation of accounting processes, making them not only automated but enabling further analysis of data. It enables the monitoring of accounting activities of all Adient’s plants in real time too, noted Hudec.
Jesný sees it as a very welcoming sign that the industrial sector is becoming more and more interconnected with such sophisticated services and R&D. This helps keep the groups’ firms in Slovakia. Those based on simple production can make a relatively fast decision to relocate, mainly based on wage costs.
“But the more sophisticated the operation of the given plant, which depends on the expertise of its employees, the more such a plant is anchored in Slovakia,” said Jesný.
Prospective mobility
The mobility sector provides ample opportunities for innovation as well as investment in Slovakia. There are efforts to support the development of charging infrastructure for electric as well as hydrogen cars, for instance. The development
of autonomous driving and its legislative framework is becoming more of a focus in Slovakia.
“Slovakia has excellent preconditions to transform from an automotive hub into a smart mobility hub,” SARIO stated. “Much progress can be seen, especially in
the development of new fuels.”
The most important initiatives include the opening of the Hydrogen Technology Research Centre in Košice as well as the first intelligent battery presented by the Slovak company InoBat Auto at the beginning of October. Its cooperation with the renowned US company Wildcat Discovery Technologies envisages a combined R&D centre, and a production line that allows for the continuous development
of proprietary batteries in close cooperation with electric vehicle manufacturers.
The InoBat Auto project will be one of the best in the EU, according to Marián Smik, chair of the Slovak Battery Alliance (SBaA). This is mainly due to the fact that the project combines the innovative technology of Wildcat Discovery Technologies for battery research and development.
“At the same time, it is Slovak, so mainly regional companies invest in InoBat Auto and all intellectual property remains here,” Smik told The Slovak Spectator.
