ZF is a global technology group that supplies systems for the mobility of passenger cars, commercial vehicles and industrial technology. Intralogistics plays a central role in production: ZF already deploys automated vehicles to move components from the warehouse into production, carry goods to shipping warehouses or transport empty boxes. The hardware solutions in use come from a range of vendors.
To manage this heterogeneous vehicle landscape efficiently and gain flexibility, ZF relies on the Intralogistics Platform from SYNAOS. The software acts as the central control system and coordinates the automated guided vehicles (AGVs) via the standardised VDA 5050 interface. It has already been in use for several years at various ZF sites.
The challenge: coordinating heterogeneous vehicle fleets flexibly and across vendors
ZF's products and their manufacturing must be continuously adapted to future requirements. This increases complexity in production – and with it the demands on intralogistics. Because ZF uses vehicles from different hardware vendors, the result is a heterogeneous fleet that can only be controlled uniformly with considerable effort. What was needed, therefore, was a way to coordinate this diversity centrally and across vendors, without committing to a single hardware vendor.
On top of this come changing requirements for the supply concepts. Until now, ZF has worked according to the milk-run principle, in which several pickups and deliveries are combined into one loop. The analysis showed that a utilisation-oriented supply based on many short transport routes can be more economical. Such control requires software that calculates, prioritises and coordinates routes with a view to the overall picture.
Looking ahead, ZF also aims to enable matrix production without cycled lines and to roll out the solution at sites worldwide. Both require scalable, standardised control. At the same time, the automation is intended to reduce repetitive tasks in intralogistics, shifting work towards more demanding activities.
The solution: a central intralogistics platform with VDA 5050 for heterogeneous fleets
ZF uses the Intralogistics Platform from SYNAOS as its central control system. The software calculates, prioritises and coordinates the routes that are most efficient in the overall picture. This allows the previous milk-run principle to be extended with utilisation-oriented supply concepts that rely on many short transport routes. In addition, the platform enables matrix production that works without cycled lines.
Communication with the automated guided vehicles takes place via the standardised VDA 5050 interface. This makes it possible to run vehicles from different hardware vendors in a single system, without ZF committing to a single manufacturer. The platform can be used globally; in addition, SYNAOS provides support for the rollout at the sites.
The result: cross-vendor control in productive multi-site operation
The Intralogistics Platform from SYNAOS is in productive operation at ZF and has already been rolled out at several sites. At one of these sites, the implementation maps a complex matrix production – proof that even demanding scenarios can be realised without cycled lines. This demonstrates for ZF that heterogeneous AGV fleets can be coordinated across vendors via the central control system and the VDA 5050 interface.
This gives ZF a robust, vendor-neutral control foundation. Supply can increasingly be aligned to actual utilisation – away from purely cyclical milk-run trips towards demand-driven, short transport routes.
Quantified efficiency or profitability figures are not yet available. The added value shows in productive multi-site operation: in the cross-vendor control of a mixed fleet, the proven suitability for complex matrix production and the foundation created for further scaling.
Outlook: expanding the fleet further and upskilling employees
Going forward, ZF plans to invest primarily in automated processes and to integrate 250 to 300 vehicles worldwide each year over the next four to five years. A key focus is on bringing employees along on this journey and qualifying them for more demanding tasks in intralogistics.
