2024-05-31 09:30:30
In order to improve the productivity and quality of its adhesive assembly processes, Stoneridge turned to automation. And this strategic change seems to be paying off: daily calibration operations now last just 2 minutes, compared to 45 minutes previously!
Stoneridge is a world leader in camera and detection systems for commercial and industrial vehicles. As the systems manufactured by Stoneridge are assembled by bonding, Stoneridge decided to automate its processes, both to maintain the group’s quality standards and to gain productivity.
A problematic variation in the weight of adhesives
Before automation, gluing operations were manual, which led to variations in the quantities of glue used. According to Tom Hafkamp, software engineer at Stoneridge, these weight variations could be as much as 10% from one glue to the next!
However, since Stoneridge automated its processes, this variation has fallen to just 1%, which is a very clear improvement and a guarantee of stability for production: “This development has significantly increased the productivity and sustainability of our assembly process, with fewer checks and adjustments.”
Furthermore, this optimization of bonding also made it possible to reduce adhesive waste by 20%.
Verification times reduced to 2 minutes per day
Previously, the equipment had to be calibrated every 100 products, which took between 5 and 8 minutes each time. In addition, for each calibration, the condition was checked before and after assembly, every 5 products. For productivity, the results were therefore clear: for 400 assembled products, 80 measurements were necessary, which represented 45 minutes per day!
In this respect, automation and also the move to larger packaging have had a radical effect. Now only one check is carried out, at each break, which takes barely 2 minutes per day.
Gluing automation in a nutshell
In concrete terms, automated bonding involves using volumetric dosing equipment fed by two supply lines, one for each component A and B. The equipment chosen by Stoneridge is a LOCTITE® EQ RC 50 integrated dispensing system capable of dispensing in points or beads.
Two rotor pumps, connected to a controller, thus allow precise dosing of the volume of each line. After mixing to the correct proportion, the glue is then applied by a robot.
A partnership of excellence with Henkel
According to Remco Broekhuizen, technical sales engineer at Henkel, Stoneridge was informed of the possibilities following an online seminar on the equipment. “We organized a demonstration and carried out an initial validation test, after which Stoneridge gave its approval.”
But beyond technical considerations, for Stoneridge, Henkel’s Loctite solutions are a guarantee of maintaining the highest quality standards. Their collaboration thus goes beyond the simple customer-supplier relationship, since Stoneridge and Henkel have a partnership of excellenceThis partnership allows the two groups to innovate together, a recent example being the addition of a Wi-Fi connection to the system in order to facilitate the sending of notifications to the technician to facilitate production monitoring.
Front page visual copyright: Stoneridge/Henkel
1724490321
#Stoneridge #automates #bonding #processes #gain #productivity #sustainability
