Cimcorp, a manufacturer and integrator of turnkey robotic gantry-based order fulfillment and tire-handling solutions, announces the expansion of its Dream Factory solution to include the handling of raw materials and compound products. The end-to-end solution includes an optimized layout design that utilizes 50-percent less floor space than conventional solutions, can be integrated with specialized software systems and generates cost savings of up to 50-percent in materials handling capital investment by simplifying the material flow. 

Kai Tuomisaari, vice president of sales and projects, Cimcorp, said, “The acquisition of Cimcorp by warehouse management and distribution specialist, Muratec, enabled the addition of key upstream components to the Dream Factory solution. Muratec’s warehousing and transportation technologies are now fully integrated with Cimcorp’s systems, including a user-friendly interface for operators, to provide seamless data access throughout the entire manufacturing process.”

The Dream Factory solution is suitable for both brownfield and greenfield factory sites, with the original version already implemented around the globe. In fact, Cimcorp has delivered solutions to 14 of the top 25 tire manufacturers globally, who between them manufacture 60-percent of the world’s tires. Key installations include Cordiant’s Yaroslavl Tire Plant in Russia – a brownfield site that dates back to 1932 –and Tigar Tyres’ brand-new plant in Pirot, Serbia, which demonstrates the simplicity and speed of installation at a greenfield site. In June 2015, Cimcorp secured its largest order, $33.5 million (approx. 30 million euros), for a turnkey material handling solution at Qingdao Sentury Tire’s new plant in Thailand. This project will continue to go live in stages throughout the remainder of the year and into 2016.

In the new Dream Factory, Cimcorp’s proven gantry robot technology and material handling specialty software – a combination of warehouse control software (WCS) and manufacturing execution systems (MES) – provide tangible benefits that include:

• Total control of the manufacturing process at each stage.
• Real-time data for production and inventory management, including 100-percent availability of raw materials, compounds, components, green tires and finished tires at each point in the manufacturing process.
• Optimum utilization of the most valuable process machinery, such as building machines and curing presses, to secure crucial increases in production capacity.
• Streamlined material flow that allows plant managers to minimize buffering and maximize production efficiency.
• Reduced buffer storage and therefore minimized work in process (WIP).
• Minimized capital investment for greenfield sites through optimized layout design.
• More efficient use of space and increased capacity within given building constraints in brownfield sites.

Cimcorp will officially launch its complete Dream Factory solution at the Tire Technology Expo in Hanover, Germany, which will be held February 16-18 2016.