Product category:
Ballscrews, Linear Guides, Jacks, Dampers
News Release from: Bosch Rexroth - Linear Motion and Assembly | Subject: Rexroth MGE aluminium profile rails
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 11 February 2008
Aluminium rails support shower
production
Soon after the completion of the work of re-equipping its factory with manufacturing cells based on Rexroth products, Aqualisa is already reporting productivity and efficiency gains of around 20%.
Aqualisa Products found that its existing manufacturing facilities were fully committed and provided virtually no scope for further growth At this point, the decision was taken to completely re-equip the company's manufacturing plant in Westerham, Kent
The Aqualisa team working on the project decided on an approach that would divide the factory's operations between nine manufacturing cells.
It then set about researching the market to find a suitable supplier for the equipment to be used in the cells.
MG Automation suggested a solution based on products from Rexroth.
Rexroth and another vendor were invited to supply a sample workstation each.
"Two things were obvious immediately", said Aqualisa Manufacturing Manager, Richard Shaw.
"The first was that the MG Automation price for the workstation was marginally more than that of the competitor".
"The second was that the Rexroth products used in the MG Automation workstation were of a considerably higher standard, resulting in a much better overall build quality".
"It didn't take us long to decide that the extra cost of the MG Automation solution was fully justified, as it would be more than offset by the increased durability and flexibility of the workstations".
"Once we started the project, we were also very impressed by the care with which the engineers from MG Automation analysed our requirements".
"They looked closely at each individual cell and went to a lot of trouble to ensure that the final design would be ergonomic and flexible and that it would help us to maximise productivity".
The workstations produced and supplied by MG Automation for the Aqualisa project make extensive use of Rexroth modular MPS (manual production system) products, including material feed systems, trolleys, ergonomic workbenches, lighting and Kanban racks.
These products are complemented by framework and other structures which MG Automation constructed from Rexroth MGE aluminium profile rails.
"Using the Bosch Rexroth modular products gave us much greater flexibility than the alternative of fabricating the equipment for the cells from steel", said Steve MacNeill, a Director of MG Automation.
Aqualisa could not afford to lose even a single day's production, so disruption during the factory refitting work had to be kept to an absolute minimum.
MG Automation and Aqualisa developed a plan for replacing one cell at a time.
The success of the plan depended, however, on the new equipment being delivered on the exact day scheduled and on it working first time after installation.
"All in all the project took under eight months", said Richard Shaw.
"Also, the cells were fully tested by MG Automation before despatch which meant that, on arrival at our factory, all that was necessary was to link up the air and power connections".
"Once again, this approach worked without a single hitch".
Soon after the completion of the work of re-equipping its factory with manufacturing cells based on Rexroth products, Aqualisa is already reporting productivity and efficiency gains of around 20%.
Other benefits include better utilisation of available factory floor space, increased flexibility to deal with changes in manufacturing requirements and scope for expansion to deal with future growth in Aqualisa's business.
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