Faurecia Improves Supply Chain Visibility with Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) Technology from Kepware

Kepware’s IoT Gateway provides industrial data to the global leader in automotive equipment and its customers

Kepware Technologies, a software development company acquired by PTC (Nasdaq: PTC) in January 2016, today announced that Faurecia, one of the world’s largest automotive equipment suppliers, has implemented Kepware’s IoT Gateway for KEPServerEX to improve parts traceability throughout the entire manufacturing process—satisfying the needs of customers and internal stakeholders.

The new IoT implementation began with requirements from leading automotive OEMs to improve traceability for the parts Faurecia was producing and to make that production data available on demand. To meet these requirements, Faurecia needed a solution that could connect the various PLCs on the factory floor to IJ Core, its proprietary parts fabrication and Manufacturing Execution System (MES). After careful research, Kepware’s KEPServerEX connectivity platform with the IoT Gateway was selected.

Since implementing the IoT Gateway, Faurecia is able to provide customers with the product traceability they require. Increased supply chain visibility enables the world’s largest automotive OEMs to satisfy regulatory requirements and improve overall product quality for consumers.

Internal Faurecia stakeholders are benefiting as well. Operators on the machine floor note that communications are much faster, and the Quality Assurance department has the industrial data they need in order to analyze production quality. Additionally, executives in Faurecia’s boardroom can now access and leverage Operations data to boost efficiencies across the organization.

Given the ease of implementation and overall success of the Porto Real, Brazil pilot, Faurecia plans to standardize on Kepware in its North American, Asian, and European factories in 2016.

“We see huge potential with the IoT Gateway and are excited to deploy it across the 34 countries we operate in,” said Rafael Unruh, Competence Center Manager, Faurecia. “We’re seeing benefits from this implementation from the boardroom down to the shop floor, and only expect them to increase as more locations utilize it. We’re able to be smarter and more nimble in our decision making, which leads to better products and services for our customers.”