Bielefeld/Lemgo. Companies often have neither the necessary knowledge nor the infrastructure for the complex development, production and testing of prototypes. SmartFactoryOWL offers companies the opportunity to test new developments in a real production environment and to check their usability before launching them on the market. In a joint project with the Bielefeld SME BECATEX GmbH, a prototype for an emergency bag – used by rescue services – was developed and tested. Certified Industrie 4.0 test environments such as the SmartFactoryOWL can thus significantly accelerate product developments.
BECATEX GmbH has taken advantage of this opportunity. As a small and medium-sized company, BECATEX GmbH manufactures custom-made bags, for example emergency bags for medical use. The customers are rescue services who use the ampoule bags in emergency bags for everyday missions. The requirements for these emergency bags are easy cleaning, a high level of shock absorption and a design that is as modular as possible. Ampoules and other medicines should be easily clamped into the bag via plastic plug-in strips and be able to be removed as easily and quickly as possible in emergencies.
In cooperation with SmartFactoryOWL, BECATEX GmbH has developed ampoule boxes for emergency bags. The 3D data was provided by BECATEX GmbH. The plug-in strips for ampoules were manufactured additively in 3D printing at SmartFactoryOWL as a prototype and tested for applicability. Ampoule boxes were equipped with intelligent sensor technology so that data on vibrations during firefighting operations could be recorded and analysed. Based on this data, simulations were carried out to investigate the ideal material properties. The findings obtained in the test environment of the SmartFactoryOWL were subsequently implemented in the new prototypes. Based on the results, BECATEX GmbH was able to optimise its product and convince its customers with innovative results. In addition, BECATEX GmbH was able to significantly reduce the risks of investing in an injection mould for series production and significantly optimise the product properties for its customers – mostly the fire brigade.
