How Emerson Applies Automation to Deliver Custom Pneumatic Valves within 5 Days

Emerson's Bonneville facility converts customer orders into production-ready CNC programs in about 10 minutes, eliminating two to four hours of manual engineering work per order.

Automated configuration, simulation and machining enable Emerson’s Bonneville facility to deliver fully customized valve systems in just five days.

(Photo courtesy of Emerson) Modern production environments are defined by ever-tighter timelines, increasing product complexity and rising expectations for efficiency and sustainability.

This reality is occurring while manufacturers face persistent labor shortages and associated skills gaps.

These issues are a few of the key drivers leading manufacturers to invest in automation and digitalized workflows that provide both speed and flexibility.

But automation only delivers value when it is adaptable, scalable and tightly integrated with production processes.

This is true for end-user manufacturers as well as the manufacturers that supply automation hardware.

A case in point can be seen at Emerson ’s Bonneville manufacturing facility in the French Alps, where the team produces the Aventics XV pneumatic valve systems, part of Emerson’s automation portfolio.

These valves are fully configurable to customer requirements, yet customers expect fast delivery — often within days, not weeks.

At the Bonneville plant, Emerson implemented a fully automated, data-driven manufacturing workflow that converts customer configurations directly into production-ready components.

Instead of requiring programmers to manually generate tool paths, post-processing software converts CAD assemblies into machine-readable programs.

Every program is automatically simulated and validated before it reaches the machining center, eliminating costly errors before any material is cut.

Because the system is software-driven and modular, production capacity can scale up or down without adding labor or reconfiguring machines.

With more than 100 million possible configurations, Aventics XV valve systems allow machine builders to precisely tailor pneumatic automation to their applications.

(Photo courtesy of Emerson) After validation, the data is sent directly to CNC machines for production of the aluminum valve bases and components.

This removes engineering bottlenecks and allows new configurations to move into production within minutes instead of hours.

The Bonneville production lines use a mix of pneumatic actuators, valve islands, sensors and motion systems to handle material flow, positioning and assembly.

Throughout the plant, smart devices and flow sensors continuously monitor compressed air consumption, pressure stability and system performance.

This allows the team to identify leaks, inefficiencies or wear early to improve uptime and energy efficiency.

Real-time monitoring software provides operators with live visibility into equipment status, throughput and resource utilization, enabling rapid response when conditions change.

Because the system is software-driven and modular, production capacity can scale up or down without adding labor or reconfiguring machines.

By combining automated configuration, simulation, machining and smart shop-floor monitoring, Emerson’s Bonneville facility can deliver fully customized Aventics XV valve systems in five days or less — a speed that was previously impossible for products with this level of complexity.

Instead of requiring programmers to manually generate tool paths, post-processing software converts CAD assemblies into machine-readable programs.

The Aventics XV platform is designed for extreme flexibility.

With roughly 100 million possible configurations, customers can specify valve size, electronics, fieldbus protocol, pressure regulators, shut-off valves, flow modules and pressure-supply modules to match their exact application.