Digital planning that simply works: Schmitz Cargobull shows how it's done with Halocline

Schmitz Cargobull is Europe's market leader for semi-trailers and stands for quality, innovation and digital solutions in commercial vehicle construction. With an increasing number of variants, growing pressure to adapt and increasing system complexity, the demands on factory and workplace planning also increased. The visualization of these processes was particularly challenging: time-consuming, static, cost-intensive and only interactive to a limited extent, as well as the high cost of layout changes and the desire to involve employees at an early stage. The classic methods - 2D plans, static drawings, cardboard workshops - were increasingly no longer sufficient.

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Core Issues

• Global price and efficiency pressure
• Complex, confusing factory and workplace design
• High effort required to communicate planning statuses
• Low flexibility for layout adjustments

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Solution Approach

In order to actively shape the transition to digital production planning, Schmitz Cargobull decided to use Halocline - a tool that is not only intuitive and technically strong, but also comes with a team that thinks in partnership.

The introduction was quick and uncomplicated: An originally planned test phase was successfully completed early on and the system went straight into productive use. The changeover was wanted internally, was consistently prioritized and accompanied by regular exchanges with the Halocline team.

“Thanks to the strong support from the Halocline team, we were able to go live much more quickly. We immediately prioritized the topic internally and concentrated fully on the introduction.”
‍– Jona Ostendorf, Industrial Engineer Schmitz Cargobull AG

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Fields of Application

• Digital overall layout with variant comparison
  For the first time, complete layouts could be built digitally, workstations and material flows tested in VR and variants simulated and compared directly with each other - without media discontinuity or complicated CAD reworking.
• Designing complete assembly lines in VR
  ‍The planning of a new assembly line was completely implemented in Halocline - including virtual, interactive workstations. Even in existing hall layouts, new structures could be realistically tested and coordinated before the conversion.
• Involvement of all employees
  Thanks to the intuitive operation, non-technical employees could also be involved in the planning.

“For us, Halocline was the real trigger for the digital transformation in layout planning.”
– Jona Ostendorf, Industrial Engineer Schmitz Cargobull AG

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Achievements

The use of Halocline brought noticeable improvements in several areas - both operationally and strategically:

• Early error prevention in planning and the associated time and cost savings
• More flexible and faster planning processes
• Better communication of layouts to stakeholders and suppliers
• Greater employee involvement and acceptance
• Wegfall teurer Cardboard-Workshops

“Virtual planning gives us security before the real conversion begins.”
– Jona Ostendorf, Industrial Engineer Schmitz Cargobull AG

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Cooperation Based on Partnership

What particularly impressed Schmitz Cargobull was not only the functionality of the software - but also the committed, cooperative partnership with the Halocline team. The Halocline team dealt openly with feedback and provided practical support for adjustments, resulting in solutions that could be easily integrated into the existing planning processes.

“Right from the start, we had the feeling that we weren't just selling software - we were thinking together.”
– Jona Ostendorf, Industrial Engineer Schmitz Cargobull AG

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Conclusion

"Halocline is more than just a planning tool for us - it is the enabler for our digital factory planning. The software has not only made us faster, but above all better."
– Jona Ostendorf, Industrial Engineer Schmitz Cargobull AG