Page 29 - EngineerIT September 2021

Lean procurement and logistics
The digitally supported, error-free creation of BOM provides
practical assistance both for development and purchasing.
In addition, the product decisions taken during development
influence subsequent steps. The consistent use of modular
systems can significantly reduce the number of components
required, the purchase order, delivery note and invoice items, as
well as the associated administrative effort – right through to the
provision of materials for assembly.
Phoenix Contact also offers a service that will be of interest
here: individually pre-commissioned terminal strips through
to complete function units can also be assembled within the
company and delivered – this further reduces the procurement,
logistics and assembly costs for the control cabinet manufacturer.
Even when various business and organisation models require
different production processes, the impact of the decisions made
at the development stage are clearly felt there as well. Manual
single-item manufacturing benefits from the possibilities offered
by digitalisation, when digitally guided assembly work stations Figure 4: Control cabinet wiring: small changes to products, tools and
processes speed up the overall process
utilise the data from CAE systems to guide semi-skilled workers
quickly and smoothly through the control cabinet assembly Quick, tool-free connection technology enables wiring to
process. The pick-by-light assembly area (Figure 3) developed by be completed in record time. In terms of figures: in an average
the Ruhr-Universität Bochum and the laser-pointer-guided control control cabinet with 500 wires and 1000 connections, around two
cabinet assembly of Blumenbecker GmbH & Co. KG based in and a quarter hours can be saved by using Push-in connection
North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, provide just two examples of technology instead of screw connections. With process
its practical application. Here too, digital work preparation always optimisation reducing the cable processing effort involved, even
precedes automation. using small automatic devices instead of conventional hand tools
saves a further two and a half hours per 1000 contacts.
Influence of standardised products The same is also true for control cabinet marking (Figure 5).
The “Schaltschrankbau 4.0” (control cabinet manufacturing 4.0) Here, interdivisional process optimisation speeds up the
study by the ISW (Institute for Control Engineering of Machine Tools commissioning, printing, and marking process if the print data
and Manufacturing Units) of the University of Stuttgart reported an is already generated directly from Project Complete as part of
average outlay of 66 percent for the wiring and 12 percent for the development work and variance has been reduced to a minimum
marking of control cabinets in 2017. These two items alone illustrate through multiple use of the same marking material. n
the high optimisation potential for well-informed product selection
and intelligent workplace design (Figure 4). More information http://www.phoenixcontact.net/webcode/#2089

Figure 5: Control cabinet marking: development data, software and
Figure 3: Pick-by-light work station: digital data provides the basis for interfaces, as well as a reduction in the number of variants, also
step-by-step assembly instructions speed up this process

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