Autoliv, Inc. is the worldwide leader in vehicle safety systems, and sells to all major car manufacturers. Through its subsidiaries, Autoliv develops, manufactures and markets protective systems, such as airbags, seatbelts, steering wheels and pedestrian protection systems for 100 car brands worldwide. The company employs more than 65,000 associates in 27 countries and operates 14 technical centers and 20 test tracks. Its products save over 30,000 lives each year.
Loftware NiceLabel has worked with various divisions in Autoliv since 2018. Currently, Autoliv is implementing NiceLabel’s label management system for two specific use cases: homologation and prototyping.
Homologation labeling is a very specific application used for seatbelts. Autoliv must homologate their products for a certain region to be able to ship and sell within that region, whether that be in Europe, the U.S., China or other parts of the world. Each region has its own regulations and requirements regarding specific markings on the product. These specifications could be a logo, a unique identifier, serialization, barcoding, left-right indications, or specific text, to name a few. Homologation labels are produced in a variety of formats, including sewn-on labels, sticky labels and laser-etching information on the seatbelt itself.
Prior to NiceLabel, the Engineering department used CATIA, a 3D CAD software to define the label layouts. They sent these files to the Manufacturing department, who then converted the information into the label design software of their choice. However, the process of converting the files from one software to another, called translation, created inefficiencies and increased the likelihood of errors or misinterpretations. “Errors on homologation labels are a recallable offense,” explains David Srugis, Global Director Product Definition & GPM at Autoliv. “While it’s not a product safety issue, you’re still non-compliant with a federal regulation.” Any products with label errors had to be quarantined, a consequence Autoliv clearly wanted to avoid.
In addition to the risk of errors, using CAD software to design labels was not an ideal solution. For example, the software wasn’t designed for defining two-dimensional (2D) barcodes, thus its functionality wasn’t optimized for that type of use case. Defining the Homologation label content in the CATIA software was inefficient and created an additional translation of design from one source to another, so that the printers could print it. This doubled the necessary workload needed to create labels.
Since there was no global labeling solution, each region and facility approached labeling in a different way, using various software and tools. For example, Autoliv’s manufacturing departments had over 1,000 people designing labels when translating the CATIA files.
In 2018, the Engineering group set up a task force to reduce quality issues. One of the areas they identified was the need to introduce a standardized labeling solution. They wanted to implement a labeling solution that would enable engineers to control the design of the label, create PLM connections to connect label content and reduce software translations.
The Engineering team implemented NiceLabel’s Label Management System for their labeling needs. They’ve trained a specific team of 10–15 users who are responsible for designing labels in the software. The team has set up libraries so the commonly used objects are stored in one location. They use their PLM system for change management and as the master source of label information.
The main benefit David’s team has experienced since implementing NiceLabel is a significant reduction in quality issues. They’ve also seen a 50% reduction in the time needed to create and define a label design. Autoliv also realized the potential of the NiceLabel platform. What started out as a quest to find a label design tool, ended up revealing the potential for a global application that could help other departments improve their labeling processes.
