As automotive safety standards continue to rise, airbag manufacturing equipment requires higher precision, stability, and production traceability. Modern airbag production lines involve complex inspection processes, automated assembly, barcode tracking, resistance testing, and real-time production data management, placing strict demands on industrial IO systems.

In this project, a customer in the automotive safety industry upgraded its airbag inspection equipment by adopting the DECOWELL EX Series Remote IO solution, successfully reducing system costs while improving operational stability and reliability.

The customer specializes in automotive airbag manufacturing equipment, covering multiple airbag product production lines, including:

• SAB (Side Airbag)
• PAB (Passenger Airbag)
• DAB (Driver Airbag)

The project required highly reliable industrial communication and large-scale distributed IO control to support various automated inspection and assembly processes.

The SAB line integrates multiple automated inspection and production functions, including:

• Inflator weight inspection
• Clip fastening detection
• Barcode binding
• Locking tab button inspection
• Airbag folding detection
• Compression molding
• Resistance testing
• Thickness inspection
• Online barcode printing
• Production traceability management

The system enables complete automated production of SAB airbags while ensuring product quality consistency and traceability.

The PAB line performs:

• Ordered airbag folding inspection
• Cartridge wool detection
• Inflator and airbag housing assembly
• Automatic nut locking
• Resistance testing
• Online barcode printing
• Production information traceability

The production line ensures accurate assembly and quality control for passenger airbag products.

The DAB line includes:

• Ordered airbag folding
• Decorative cover label welding
• Inflator weight detection
• Inflator and airbag housing assembly
• Nut locking
• Resistance testing
• Decorative cover assembly
• Automatic spring installation
• Press force detection

The system fully satisfies the assembly and inspection requirements for driver airbag products.

The customer originally used a Siemens IO solution and planned to replace it with a domestic alternative to reduce procurement costs while maintaining stable performance.

During the project, the customer evaluated several domestic IO brands and conducted multiple compatibility and stability tests.

The main project requirements included:

• Lower IO system cost
• Stable EtherNet/IP communication
• Reliable long-term operation
• Large-scale distributed IO deployment
• High-speed production line response

To meet the customer’s requirements, DECOWELL provided an EX Series Remote IO solution.

The project adopted the following configuration:

• EtherNet/IP Coupler *5
• 16DI Modules *4
• 16DO Modules *7
• 232 Communication Modules *8

The EX Series Remote IO supports high-speed EtherNet/IP communication and flexible distributed deployment, making it highly suitable for automotive automation applications.

Compared with the original Siemens solution, the DECOWELL EX Series significantly reduced overall IO procurement costs while maintaining industrial-grade performance.

This helped the customer lower equipment manufacturing costs and improve overall project competitiveness.

The customer tested multiple domestic IO brands during the evaluation stage.

After comprehensive comparison, the DECOWELL solution stood out for its:

• Communication stability
• Signal response speed
• Long-term operational reliability
• System compatibility

The customer ultimately selected DECOWELL as the preferred IO solution for the project.

The EX Series supports distributed IO deployment, reducing complex wiring and simplifying electrical cabinet design.

Benefits include:

• Easier installation
• Faster commissioning
• Improved scalability
• Reduced maintenance difficulty

This is especially important for large-scale airbag inspection and assembly equipment with numerous sensing and control points.

Automotive airbag production requires extremely high precision and reliability. Any signal interruption or unstable communication may directly affect product quality and production efficiency.

Remote IO solutions help manufacturers achieve:

• Faster data transmission
• Stable real-time control
• Simplified wiring architecture
• Improved production traceability
• Reduced downtime and maintenance costs

As automotive manufacturing moves toward smarter and more flexible production systems, remote IO technology is becoming increasingly essential for airbag production equipment manufacturers.

In this automotive airbag inspection equipment project, DECOWELL successfully helped the customer achieve:

• Lower IO system costs
• Stable EtherNet/IP communication
• Reliable distributed control
• Improved equipment stability
• Easier installation and maintenance

The DECOWELL EX Series Remote IO solution proved to be a reliable and cost-effective alternative for automotive airbag production and inspection applications, helping customers improve manufacturing efficiency while reducing operational costs.