Deploy test equipment for cost savings and quality

First time right is a key concept in industrial production. Finished products must work flawlessly when they roll off the line and are shipped to the customer. Testing is then the message. But that process must also run as efficiently and smoothly as the rest of your production. That is the added value that Total Productivity adds. From her broad experience in automation, she knows how to use test equipment to save costs and increase quality.

The demands manufacturers must meet are not abysmal. Customers are becoming more demanding, delivery deadlines tighter. What do you do when you receive an order that must be assembled in your customer's final product 10 hours later? And when the margin of error is only allowed to be 10 ppm? Anyone who wants to take up that gauntlet must have their entire process secured by controlling every step in the production process. For example, by adding digital work instructions, working with pick-to-light systems in assembly, or adding in-line testing. "An investment in quality that actually pays off. Because the equipment is integrated into your production, the time required for testing is kept to a minimum. Moreover, you already know what works and what doesn't, so you don't have to disassemble a fully assembled product at the end. Because that leads to high costs," warns marketing manager Jeroen van Dijk.

Testing tailored to your products and process

Total Productivity helps its customers integrate in-line testing. "Always from the need of the end customer and always in close cooperation to reach the best solution. Each product also has its own quality requirements. One you only need to test against two criteria, another against 27. Still, it is important to correctly assess every facet that is essential for quality," says Van Dijk. From a wide range of solutions, Total Productivity looks at what fits best for each client. "In-line testing helps prevent bottlenecks in the follow-up step. It also prevents expensive product failures. In an end-of-line test, we then check products again for their functional and legal requirements. A third option is an offline test. We resort to that if there is no space to integrate the test or if it would take too long." All tests can be performed either semi-automatically or fully automatically.

Improve for quality and thus productivity

The efficiency of your production remains central to Total Productivity even when testing. Van Dijk: "Whichever way you look at it, what counts is improving productivity. As essential as testing products to requirements is, it should not hinder the output of the production process. Therefore, it is important to have a good knowledge of what determines quality in your product now. What defect has what consequences?" Total Productivity applies the FMEA (Failure Mode and Effect Analysis) principle for this purpose. "This analysis can add a lot of value. For example, the defects that hurt the most, that therefore cost the most money or time or compromise safety, can be given the highest priority. We see the FMEA as a crucial guide in the design of test equipment."

Everything by the book

All test equipment supplied by Total Productivity is always delivered completely safe and CE marked. As a result, the measurement performance, accuracy and reliability of the test equipment are fully guaranteed. "The data logged in these systems can also demonstrate that our customers have done everything by the book, that all steps on the production floor have been carried out correctly. Traceability will become increasingly important in the coming years," Van Dijk concludes. 

What does practice teach?

Among other things, Total Productivity supplied an assembly line for Quooker. This Dutch family business can call itself the very first producer of boiling water taps in the world. But today they can already do much more than that and have evolved into all-in-one faucets that must function to perfection. In the line for the Quooker Cube (sparkling water), Total Productivity integrated three fully automatic testing machines. A Flow Test unit checks that the operators have mounted the hoses correctly. The Pressure Test Unit pressurizes the product to analyze whether it is watertight. Finally, the Electrical Test Unit at the end of the line checks that it meets all legal requirements and the requirements Quooker itself sets for its products. This way, customers get a faucet that is high quality.