Tradition meets innovation: Rawie improves factory planning with Halocline

A. RAWIE GmbH & Co. KG from Osnabrück is a traditional company. In over 130 years of company history, Rawie has developed from the inventor of the brake bounce to a globally active specialist for dynamic track protection systems.

Rawie is currently investing in a new, ultra-modern location in the Niedersachsenpark on the A1 to expand its capacities and create space for further growth. A new corporate headquarters is being built with 4,800 m² production area.

“With this new building, we are creating the basis for further expanding our innovative strength and securing our market position in the long term.”
- Markus Gehle, managing director of Rawie

The redesign of the work areas in the new hall layout was particularly challenging for Rawie: 2D plans made visualization complex, employees could barely be involved and coordination was complex. It quickly became clear that an innovative planning approach was needed for greater efficiency and participation.

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Solution approach

In order to make planning more efficient and participatory, Rawie decided to use Halocline. The focus was on four key applications:

• Planning factory layouts and workstations in VR
  The entire hall layout and individual work areas could be virtually set up, tested and quickly varied. In this way, material flows and structures became transparent and optimizations could be implemented immediately.
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• Quick variant creation for flexible decisions
  Different layouts could be created and compared in a very short time — a decisive advantage for quick, well-founded decisions in the project.
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• Competent support in everyday project work
  Close cooperation with Halocline's contacts ensured a smooth process, quick assistance and seamless onboarding into the new planning tool.
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• Involving employees through immersive planning experiences
  Employees experienced their future workplaces realistically in VR, gave feedback and contributed ideas directly. As a result, the acceptance and quality of planning increased.

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“It used to take us several days to check a new layout — with Halocline, we now create different variants in less than an hour and make decisions immediately. ”
- Markus Gehle, managing director of Rawie

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Successes

With Halocline, Rawie was able to significantly improve the planning of his new plant and achieve concrete added value:

• Faster, more flexible planning
  Different layout variants can be set up and compared in minutes. Where it used to take several days of coordination, the team is now trying out new machine arrangements directly in VR and immediately optimizes them. As a result, the entire planning process was significantly shortened.
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• Improved visualization and communication
  Everyone involved understands the planning right away, as they experience the layout three-dimensionally and on a 1:1 scale. Misunderstandings such as with 2D plans are eliminated. The virtual factory is becoming a common language between management, planners and workers. Ideas can be presented clearly, communicated more easily and decided more quickly. Employee participation also ensures greater acceptance of changes.
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• Higher planning quality through employee participation
  Through the active involvement of workers, practical experience flows directly into the design. Ergonomic aspects are already tested in the virtual phase: Uncomfortable movement sequences or bottlenecks in the material flow are immediately noticed and can be adjusted. This is how Rawie achieves a higher level of quality when starting production —”Right the First Time“instead of subsequent corrections.

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Conclusion

With the help of Halocline, Rawie has made a leap forward in factory planning. The combination of digital 3D planning and intensive employee participation made it possible to make the new plant efficient, participatory and future-proof. Rawie was able to master the challenge of hall planning and at the same time strengthen his innovative culture — in line with the company's guiding principle of continuously expanding its own innovative strength.

“The introduction of Halocline was a real game changer for us. For the first time, we were able to make our plans so transparent and realistic that everyone involved immediately understood what it was about. Instead of discussing sketches for days, we experienced together in VR what our future areas of work would look like. This clarity and speed give us the assurance that our new plant is not only planned efficiently and future-proof, but that unnecessary costs are also avoided. ”
- Markus Gehle, managing director of Rawie