ICONICS > Case Studies > Customer Success Story: Continental AG

Customer Success Story: Continental AG

Customer Company Size

Large Corporate

Region

Europe

Country

Germany

Product

ICONICS’ HMI/SCADA suite
ICONICS data historian

Tech Stack

Database for Online Process Analysis and Control (DOPAC)
Statistical Process Control (SPC)

Implementation Scale

Enterprise-wide Deployment

Impact Metrics

Productivity Improvements
Innovation Output

Technology Category

Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration

Applicable Industries

Automotive

Applicable Functions

Discrete Manufacturing
Quality Assurance

Use Cases

Manufacturing System Automation
Real-Time Location System (RTLS)

Services

System Integration

About The Customer

Continental AG, headquartered in Hanover, Germany, is the world’s fourth largest tire manufacturer. Founded in 1871 as a rubber manufacturer, the company now contains additional divisions handling brake systems, interior electronics, automotive safety, powertrain/chassis components, tachographs and additional parts for the automotive and transportation industries. Almost every third car in Europe is delivered with tires from Continental. Its Division Tires features tire brands like Continental, Uniroyal, General Tire, Semperit, Barum and many more. Today the company has over 227,000 employees in 56 countries.

The Challenge

Continental AG, a leading tire manufacturer, sought to update their process analysis and control systems across 18 separate locations worldwide. The company aimed to develop a system capable of near real-time data collection from production equipment for process and product analysis and optimization. This led to the initiation of the 'DOPAC' project, standing for 'Database for Online Process Analysis and Control'. A pilot project began in 2016 in the company’s Puchov, Slovakia plant, with a year spent on prototype development. The company decided to move on from installed legacy systems and, after considering multiple vendor solutions, decided upon ICONICS HMI/SCADA and data historian to comprise the heart of DOPAC.

The Solution

Continental AG selected ICONICS’ HMI/SCADA suite, in addition to the high-speed, reliable, robust plant historian. The new system was intended to steer and continuously improve the company’s production processes based on statistical process control (SPC) measurement of product performance-relevant data. A taskforce was put together to clearly define the company’s IT requirements, as the right pertinent performance data was deemed necessary for continuous improvement. On top actual product and process data were for intended advanced analytics. High on the list was real-time data collection. Another necessity was a redundant architecture, including data buffering at sources. The company also highly valued integrating specification systems, high-rate data compression and data mapping.

Operational Impact

Continental selected ICONICS automation software solutions due to the company’s product scope, in terms of technical solutions, and the flexibility of its available modules.
Continental favored ICONICS’ strong customer orientation, the flexibility and availability of its employees, and the fact that they were very solution oriented.
Among the perceived benefits of ICONICS automation software, Continental highlighted its transparency, Web-based utility, and light installation footprint.