Digital concept for smart water meters
Lorenz wanted to set up a new, efficient production line for smart wireless water meters in order to improve its market prospects in the face of international competition. The plan was to set up a production line in collaboration with ITQ, whilst ITQ’s sister company, Software Factory, was to develop the integrated production management and line control system.
The challenge was to network the entire production system, including the existing IT infrastructure, in order to manufacture digital devices quickly, flexibly and in an environmentally friendly manner, whilst integrating the various IT systems and standardising data structures from planning right through to the shop floor to ensure secure, digitally controlled manufacturing.
ITQ has been involved in the implementation of the Smart Factory right from the very beginning in 2015, covering everything from concept development through to control systems, HMI and integration, right up to the coordination of the project.
The system implemented is based on IoT functionalities for IT security, process data processing, traceability, visualisations and smart apps, with the aim of standardising the new forms of decentralised information provision from the planning stage right through to the shop floor. The digitally controlled production process was implemented in a 1,000 m² production hall built in 2022.
Lorenz is thus able to produce almost 2 million water meters per year – involving around 20 process steps, ranging from hydraulic assembly and programming through to calibration, individual testing and packaging. Thanks to the latest IoT functionalities, it is possible to intervene quickly and precisely in the control of the production lines as required, reduce sources of error and disruption, compare process flows and find effective solutions to problems.
Further benefits:
Production flexibility right down to batch size 1 (i.e. individually configurable)
The biggest challenge was to set up a fully networked production environment that both integrates existing IT systems and enables end-to-end data structures from planning right through to the shop floor.
A smart factory has been implemented, based on IoT technologies and integrating functions such as IT security, process data processing, traceability, visualisation and decentralised information provision.
ITQ was involved in every aspect of the project – from concept development, through control systems and HMI, to integration and project coordination – throughout the entire project.
The production line enables the manufacture of up to 2 million water meters per year across some 20 process steps, whilst ensuring high levels of efficiency, quality and transparency.
The Smart Factory enables flexible production down to batch size 1, shorter lead times, rapid intervention in production processes and a significant reduction in errors and disruptions.
Further information: