Purem by Eberspaecher, a globally active manufacturer of innovative exhaust systems, had a clear goal when evaluating solutions to automate production supply at its Neunkirchen site: measurable efficiency gains. The company had already recognized the strategic value of automation early on, successfully implementing automated processes across its production operations – making the extension of this approach to automated line supply the next logical step. When evaluating systems that could handle the demands of day-to-day operations while remaining flexible enough to scale, Idealworks OS (Idealworks Orchestration System) emerged as the ideal fit to orchestrate a fleet of underride transport robots. With Idealworks supporting the entire automation journey end-to-end, the results spoke for themselves:
With manual tugger trains, we have a replenishment time of two hours. We plan to cut that down to 30 minutes with Idealworks OS.
Success Through Scalability
Starting with a fleet of four mobile robots, early efficiency gains quickly made one thing clear: this was just the beginning. In under two years, the fleet tripled – fully leveraging the benefits of automated intralogistics. At the same time, the Neunkirchen setup served as a blueprint for rolling out automation across other European sites, all with Idealworks OS at the core. A key success factor was the system’s open architecture, enabling seamless integration of AMRs and AGVs from multiple vendors.
The openness of Idealworks OS is a real differentiator. We can evaluate and connect transport solutions from different vendors without being locked into one ecosystem.
From Manual Device Tracking to Complete Automation Orchestration
Mixed traffic continues to dominate intralogistics at Purem by Eberspaecher, creating a need for solutions that can harmonize manual and automated vehicles. Idealworks’s real-time localization system (RTLS) addressed that need directly, delivering detailed visibility into the entire material flow. Integrated analytics, such as heatmaps and utilization charts, provide data-driven insights into route efficiency and optimization potential.
This deployment demonstrates how intelligently applied automation, built on a holistic approach and scalable platform, can drive meaningful efficiency gains and reduce costs — all centrally orchestrated by Idealworks OS.
Thirteen underride robots have replaced six tugger trains. That is not just cost reduction; it is a fundamentally leaner operation.
