Article submitted by Fatih ÇİFTÇİ, Innovation and Digital Projects Leader – Production Technologies Department at TOFAŞ
- Tell us about TOFAŞ. What is your core business and role within the project?
Tofaş is a leading automotive manufacturer in Türkiye, founded in 1968. It is a joint venture between the Stellantis Group and Koç Holding. With its significant production capacity, R&D competencies, and a workforce of nearly six thousand people, Tofaş stands as one of Türkiye’s foremost industrial enterprises. Within the ECOFACT project, Tofaş serves as an industrial partner and one of the end users.
- Why did your organisation get involved in the ECOFACT project? How does this activity fit with the normal business of your organisation?
Tofaş actively monitors the European Green Deal to integrate its principles into its strategy to combat climate change. Committed to continuous improvement, Tofaş initiates numerous energy-efficiency projects aimed at reducing the company’s energy consumption and emissions. ECOFACT will provide a comprehensive management platform and valuable insights to the factory’s operators, engineers and managers. Tofaş engaged in this project to contribute to the developments within the ECOFACT scope, thereby accelerating improvements in its processes and strengthening its competitiveness in the sector.
- How will the outputs of the ECOFACT project help production system energy performance?
At Tofaş, the paint shop consumes nearly half of the total energy. Through the ECOFACT project, it will be possible to monitor real-time energy consumption in processes via a digital twin platform. With the aid of various decision support systems and functionalities, we can identify and address numerous hidden losses in the complex equipment and systems spread over the 20,000 sqm shop floor area.
- What are the technical challenges your work in ECOFACT is trying to overcome?
Tofaş is intensively involved in WP6 tasks related to the engineering deployment and commissioning of use cases. The paint shop lines are generally old, with some dating back to the 1980s. There were few or no measurement devices on production lines. Installing the necessary measurement devices, related communication equipment, and collecting real-time data pose significant technical challenges in the ECOFACT project that we are striving to overcome.
- What positive impacts will the project have when complete?
ECOFACT will provide visibility into painting processes. Its functionalities will enable shop floor personnel to be aware of and significantly improve energy losses and chemical material consumption.
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