Flexibility as a top priority

Asscon, Köngisbrunn (Germany) & Murrelektronik, Oppenweiler (Germany)

With over 32,000 articles, the retooling frequency required for two-shift operation, i.e. in 16 hours per day on 5 days a week, can be guessed at. Flexibility is hence also one of the company’s top priorities. It is hence only consistent in this respect that the Kaizen philosophy should have been brought to the fore and begun to be actively lived here a number of years ago, with the aim of improving customer satisfaction and competitiveness.

As a provider of electronic services, Murrelektronik is called upon to manufacture a wide range of different products in a highly flexible manner. While these processes used to rely on stand-alone solutions throughout in the past, today‘s production division in Oppenweiler features 3 SMD lines followed by 4 production cells. This sea-change had actually been started off a number of years before that, however, with the development of a production system of our own. Holger Scheib, besides his function as Head of Quality Management now also responsible for integrating the Kaizen philosophy, can still vividly remember the sequence of events at the time: „ As part of our company’s further development, and in order to implement our visions and targets, we also subjected our technologies to a review. As the customers’ requirements mounted we had to become ever more flexible if we were to maintain our competitiveness, and the location. Opting for this production system in combination with Kaizen and new inline machines insofar meant a great step forward for us, towards greater flexibility.“

2008 therefore saw the beginnings of this vision’s implementation. The new, state-of-the-art logistics centre, enabling us to provide our clients with their goods as quickly and flexibly as possible, had already been built in 2006. This logistics centre is our central hub, with a fully automated warehouse for small parts and over 1,300 deliveries dispatched to clients around the world every day by way of direct shipment. It is hence not that surprising that over 52,000 applications around the globe should be run with the Cube67 bus node made by us, for example. Or that over 1.1 million channels should be protected by MICO, and counting. This is no mere coincidence.

As our existing technologies were also found to be unable to meet these exacting requirements, the company invested in completely new equipment and switched to inline production after a benchmark. This decision has also greatly benefited the vapour phase technology manufacturer Asscon. It must have, because the Murrelektronik group is relying on 6 inline vapour phase systems in total by now, three of them in Oppenweiler and the other three in the Czech Republic. Any restructuring for continuous improvement is only ever performed in line with the Kaizen maxims. This has helped us tailor our production to the customer’s needs. The resolute elimination of wastage and a production management in keeping with the pull-principle ensure maximum system efficiency with minimal cycle times and inventories. The one-piece-flow principle is applied as comprehensively in all our divisions as is the zero-defects strategy, while the integration of our suppliers and of robust processes ensures the production of high-quality products that point the way ahead technologically. All thanks to the im-plementation of the Kaizen philosophy, paving the ground for continuous improvement. As many as 10 employees are firmly ancho- red in this production philosophy across our plants to support its implementation, by the way.

The Murrelektronik group is meanwhile also taking care to install identical systems and processes around the world, in order to boost their flexibility even further as production processes can thus be easily duplicated, or staff also exchanged within locations. The Oppenweiler plant features 3 fully automatic SMD lines followed by 4 production cells for complete product assembly. This is where the inline vapour phase soldering systems VP3000 and VP2000 can be found, as well as the new inline vapour phase soldering system VP2000–100, another three of which are located in other plants of the Murrelektronik group. The MICO so frequently relied upon around the globe is one of the products soldered by one of these soldering systems in the Czech Republic. Whereas the fieldbus systems in Oppenweiler pass through the vapour phase soldering plants, each of them optimally suited for its purpose, and also applied in the same manner. Dr. Zöller from Asscon is highly aware of the advantages offered by these systems: „The VP3000 is a smaller and the VP2000 a larger inline machine of the earlier series. The VP2000–100 of the new series is, just like them, designed for production processes that are focused on quality and flexibility whilst ensuring comprehensive reproducibility of soldering processes. And that is exactly why these systems are so absolutely spot-on for Murrelektronik.“ Dennis Oltmanns and Holger Scheib can only confirm this: „ We knew exactly what we wanted after our experiences with the vapour phase soldering. We needed a continuous process that is running uninterruptedly in systems trimmed for flexibility. Lot sizes starting from 1 mean that we need to retool several times a day. We have insofar opted for Asscon in consideration of this.“

The VP2000 model range had initially been designed as an inline variant for mass production, but the system is nonetheless more than able to meet Murrelektronik’s requirements in terms of flexibility. This is guaranteed by Asscon’s vapour phase reflow soldering systems, as the latest technological response to modern soldering challenges. This vapour phase technology allows for the faultless soldering of complex SMT assemblies in practically any arrangement. Application of a special fluid Galden® ensures an inert atmosphere, meaning that the entire process can be performed in a completely oxygen-free environment. Variable temperature gradient control meanwhile automatically creates a soldering profile that is customized to the respective heat requirements of the assemblies, ensuring optimal temperatures at all their positions. Overheating or damage of the assemblies or elements is hence as excluded as a delamination of the circuit board. An important aspect, given the fact that as many as 10 assemblies pass through the soldering furnace at Oppenweiler on average every 6 minutes. The highlights of the VP2000 series include an active process and flux management that combines patented soldering process optimizations with high-performance filter systems. Individually desired temperature profiles are simply and quickly configured by entering a small number of parameters. In the powerful cooling zone, a multi-stage ventilation system meanwhile guarantees the effective and flexible cooling of soldered assemblies. Lock systems as well as process and filtering procedures reduce the consumption of heat transfer fluid to a minimum. The service points are provided with optimal accessibility for maintenance and service purposes. Filter systems ensure that the heat transfer fluid and the process atmosphere are continuously cleaned while the soldering is taking place. Electrically adjustable transport systems and centre support meanwhile allow for uncomplicated and fast adjustment to flexible productions, to name but a few of the advantages. Advantages that Murrelektronik can make optimal use of in its production processes. Which is also the reason why the company continues to favour the manufacturer from Königsbrunn.

www.asscon.de; www.murrelektronik.com

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