GENESAL ENERGY in Northwest Spain begins conversion to a “Smart Factory”
The investment, co-financed with EU funds amounts to 2 million Euros.
GENESEAL ENERGY, specialist in the design, manufacture and distribution of generator sets, will soon create their first intelligent factory at their head office in Bergondo’s industrial zone near the city of A Coruna in Northwest Spain. Their 6,000 SQ/M home is to be converted in to an Industry 4.0 factory (a Smart Factory): Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV) for parts supply, “Additive Manufacturing” techniques and robotised services. The overall aim is to take GENESAL, an already well recognised brand in energy supply and increase its competitiveness and sustainability.
Genesal Energy will join the list of companies that are forming a part of the 4th Industrial Revolution, which permits improvements in all the phases of manufacturing. The Smart Factory concept helps to save energy and raw materials during processes, such as improving worker efficiency and maximising their effectiveness, and also applying sustainable technologies with energy recuperation techniques.
This project will be possible thanks to a 2 million Euro investment and has received financial support from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Industrial Technological Development Centre (CDTI in Spanish), an organism under the auspices of Spain’s Ministry for the Economy and Competitivity. The conversion to a Smart Factory will happen over the next 6 years, finalising in 2023.
Better adaptability to the needs of the company, and a better resource management are just two of Genesal Energy’s objectives, whose overall strategy is based on 3 pillars: industry, internationalisation and innovation.
The denominated Smart Factories are capable of processing enormous databases to obtain maximum efficiency through the ability to connect people, devices and machines. It is also characterised by its ability to increase the rate of digitalisation in the different phases of the manufacturing process, and as a result obtaining higher standards of process control and quality.
‘Collaborative’ Robots
The arrival of industrial robots to their Spanish head office and factory, means that the workforce of over 60 people and the robots will work together to attain the highest levels of quality and efficiency. The robots will be collaborative, having been designed to support the employees in their daily tasks.
The introduction of Additive Manufacturing (AM) techniques will clearly mark a before and after in the company’s production line. AM technologies permits the easy acquirement of key parts with specially adapted characteristics and a very high precision level, while improving the time required in the design and manufacturing process.
Since 2016 Genesal Energy has operated their Technological Centre for Distributed Energy (CETED) from their Spanish head office. CETED was recently recognised for their award in the category of Technical Innovation by the regional School of Engineers.
Now with the jump to Industry 4.0, Genesal reinforces its commitment in the field of R&D, an ongoing key part of the groups mission since its founding and a key reason why they are leaders in their field; developing cutting edge technology and in-house solutions of the highest quality and efficiency.
