Customer:
The HARTMANN GROUP is a leading European provider of system solutions for medicine and healthcare. Medical professionals and patients rely on its products every day.
Retrofit
At the Paul Hartmann AG logistics center in Herbrechtingen, an electric monorail system (EMS) has been ensuring the smooth transport of medical products between production, high-bay warehouses, and shipping for years. The system is designed as a circular circuit with transfer points – a central element of internal logistics that has to withstand high loads every day.
After many years of operation, it became apparent that the existing control and sensor technology no longer met today's performance and reliability requirements. A retrofit was necessary – and it had to be done during ongoing operations.
Project objective:
Modernization of the entire electric monorail control system and sensor technology with a focus on:
- Minimal downtime
- Seamless integration of new technology
- Increased system performance
- Future-proof connection to predictive maintenance concepts
Implementation
The retrofit was carried out in two phases - without interrupting the operation of the system:
1. Stationary Components (switch cabinets)
- Replacement of the old Berghof control units with new CC-Slim modules
- Use of a CAN2SC gateway for the rail bus connection
- Result: significantly more compact design - more space in the control cabinet
2. Mobile Units (EMS vehicles)
- Replacement of the previous Berghof control units with the new IMX series
- 1:1 hardware replacement possible - identical in construction and plug-compatible
- New optical distance sensor connected via CAN instead of serial
- Barcode sensor remains the central element for precise positioning
Challenges & Solutions
A retrofit during operation always involves uncertainties:
- Unclear legacy documentation: Which functions are installed? Which messages have been "swallowed" so far?
- Old code base: Often difficult to understand and adapted to less performant control systems.
- Faster processes: New control system = higher speed → existing processes run differently.
Our Solution:
Our experts put themselves in the mindset of the original developers and analyze the processes deep in the code in order to adapt them to the new performance. This understanding enables targeted error localization and elimination - a decisive success factor.
Result
- Significantly better performing system
- No downtimes during the retrofit
- Greater reliability and future-proofing of the system
- Maximum flexibility thanks to fallback strategy: in the event of problems, the old technology can be reactivated at any time using plug-and-play.
Prospect: Predictive Maintenance
The next step is to implement a predictive maintenance solution together with Hartmann:
- The new control system detects dirty QR codes at an early stage, for example.
- Automated signaling prevents unplanned downtimes.
- This function was developed directly from the findings of the retrofit and the extended control functionality.
Conclusion
The retrofit at Paul Hartmann AG impressively demonstrates how state-of-the-art control technology, a deep understanding of processes and an operation-under-load concept can be successfully combined.
Our approach: modernization without downtime - flexible, safe, future-oriented.
How can we help you?
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