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The Soul of a Good Assembly System is Flexibility
Date: 10/05/2007
Manufacturers that yearn for customized assembly lines, that ideally increase production while reducing mean time between failures, should be careful what they wish for. A tailor-fit system may suit immediate needs, but when it goes out of style it can quickly morph into a useless, wasteful luxury. Ask Bill Bargholtz.
Bargholtz, senior manufacturing engineer for Ark-les Custom Products, an Illinois Tool Works (ITW) company, has come to believe that customized automation may very well be a synonym for obsolete. The issue is adaptability.
"If each portion of the machine is customized, you may not have any common parts for repairs. Or it can't be converted to run a different product," he said. "We've purchased customized machines. But when the product run ended, we cut them up and threw them away. They couldn't be adapted to other uses."
Compare that outcome to a standard platform Ark-les Custom Products purchased from Mikron Assembly Technology four years ago. "I can take tooling stations out of it and do something completely different," Bargholtz said of the Mikron setup. "But the same frame is there, the same motor. If this product dies in two or three years I can retool this platform for about one-third of what I paid for it."
The product Bargholtz was referring to is a six-part hidden washer lid switch Ark-les Custom Products makes for Whirlpool. Four years ago the appliance firm requested an upgrade of the complex switch, which is assembled in Wisconsin then shipped to Whirlpool for installation. Bargholtz said the switch assembly is challenging because the entire component is not much bigger than a pack of cigarettes, and it includes a set of small, tricky spring contacts.
When developing a product for its various clients, Ark-les Custom Products engineers create a solution, and then build prototypes to test the design. Once the client has given the green light, Bargholtz's department steps in. First they determine the production volume the client will need. From there they determine if automation is required. In the not-so-distant past, projects that required less than five million units annually were deemed unsuitable for automation. Those projects would often be shipped overseas and hand assembled. But times have changed. Now automation is recommended even when only two million units are needed annually.
Since Whirlpool would require at least five million units, Bargholtz knew automation was justified. He also knew that to meet production demands he would need a system that was fast, durable and could maintain a high level of quality control.
"In today's market -- the complexity of things, and quality demands -- you need to have equipment that verifies just about everything that you do," he said.
The next step for Bargholtz was writing a detailed six-page specification report that would be sent to companies that wished to bid on the project. He knew from experience that a report that did not adequately explain his production needs could end up costing Ark-les Custom Products a lot of money. "You need to specify everything so when you get this machinery it does exactly what you want. I've seen enough misunderstanding to know that it ends up costing you double before you clean up the mess," he said.
The eight bids he received ran the gamut of customized automated solutions. Some proposals were delivered electronically in CAD files. One bid was presented in the form of a pencil sketch. Apparently, this is an age when any company can claim to be an automation expert. "It went from things I pretty much knew wouldn't work, to the Mercedes Benz of machines," he said.
The Mikron bid impressed Bargholtz. Basically, the assembly system would comprise three modules tied together with conveyors. Since the frame, camshaft and motors were standard issue -- "Why reinvent the wheel?" -- Mikron could reduce the lead time for delivering the system and deal with the specificity of the tooling. And he appreciated both the questions Mikron asked and the answers they provided. It also didn't hurt that Mikron was an international firm: Since being purchased by ITW, a Fortune 500 company, the horizons had expanded for Ark-les Custom Products.
"I can find the Mikron standard frames all over the world. It's the tooling that's unique," he said.
But there was one problem. The Mikron bid was the second highest of the bunch. To convince management that the expenditure would actually save money, Bargholtz devised a matrix that showed how each of the eight automation proposals would perform, financially and from a production standpoint. The comparison made it clear that some of the proposed customized automated systems simply would not hold up under the pressure of producing five million units annually. And the Mikron system had the speed Bargholtz wanted.
"Mikron came in with booklets, clear illustrations of sequence of events, and data on how many units you could get off in an eight-hour shift. They had all the right information and calculations. When you present that to management, you can make the argument that if we spend the money now it will be worth it. They're used to hearing me say, 'You can pay me now or you can pay me later,'" he said.
In fact, Ark-les Custom Products paid for the Mikron system in less than half the time that was projected. A key factor was reduction of labor costs. The Mikron setup requires one employee. The production line for an equivalent earlier incarnation of the washer switch needed 12 assembly people and two maintenance workers.
"If you put less labor into it you give the customer a better price and still make a nice profit. And we gave them a better switch besides. All around it's a better deal," he said.
The "buy off" was another critical area that saved Ark-les Custom Products time and money. Before accepting delivery of the system, Bargholtz and his colleagues visited the Mikron facility for a demonstration. Often this can be a less than illuminating experience because the dry run of only about 10,000 units doesn't necessarily reveal problems that may occur when the system is installed and running full tilt. And the more complicated the customized automated system is, the greater incidents of failure. For example, one of the eight bids Bargholtz reviewed wanted to use robots. The plan was rejected because he knew that once you get a big mass flying around, no matter how good the construction looks on paper and during the demo, it's not going to last.
The Mikron buy off went well because the bowl feeder -- where parts arrive and are separated before assembly -- performed beautifully. Usually, this element presents problems during demos. Although some adjustments were necessary following installation at the Ark-les Custom Products plant, they were minor and could be done in-house. And when members of the parent company, ITW, visited and observed the system in action, they were very impressed. "The Mikron is assembling very complicated parts. To look at it, it seems simple. But to do all that is amazing," he said.
Bargholtz is eager to do more business with Mikron. And he has reason to believe the collaboration will continue to be successful. "I give them a product and a process and they go away and tell me what it will cost. I know Mikron now, and they know us. They understand where I'm coming from," he said.
For more information, contact Paul Beduze at Mikron Assembly Technology,
Milwaukee, WI, Phone (262) 742 5316, Fax (262) 742 5319
Or visit the web site:
http://www.mikron.com/internet.nsf/id/assembly_technology_en
by Douglas Glenn Clark
Douglas Glenn Clark is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles, California
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