The beginning of Special Machine at the Interroll Thailand factory

Mr. Kraisorn tells about the old factory of Interroll that used to be a batch production. The production line was arranged according to the process. from one process to the next Starting from shaft cutting, drilling holes, grooving, tapping, and assembling various parts together, some orders may skip some processes.

With the production line according to the process of the old factory Although it meets the needs of producing custom-made products, but in terms of quality control, it is a weakness. Especially when there is a product error, the whole batch is wrong. Causing all new production to be made Or they may not know that the product is not of quality until it is used and there is a problem.

When it came to a great opportunity to expand Interroll's investment in Thailand in 2019, it moved to a new factory at Amata City Industrial Estate, Chonburi, on a production area of 5,000 square meters and has a production capacity that has increased 3 times. The need for automatic machines typical of the Interroll plant in Germany was born. In addition to responding to business growth It also hopes to raise production efficiency, speed, accuracy and 100% quality.

However, when considering the production volume, it was found that Importing such machinery is not worth the investment. Interroll therefore looked for a machine manufacturer in Thailand. To design and build a specific machine for the production line of Interroll Thailand with a focus on being a machine that is easy to use. flexible and able to precisely control various factors

3 big problems in special machine design Discussions between the two alliances have thus led to three big questions in the design of this machine. which consists of 1. Combine process 2. Tool life management 3. Tool change over and Error proofing or Poka Yoke

Combine process : combine multiple processes in one machine From Interroll's production volume, which determines Takt time (production speed) and Cycle time (machine speed), Eureka Automation designs a Special Machine that combines 5 processes. Changing the production model from Batch production, which is the work piece produced one by one and waiting until the number of batches is complete, and then changing to the next process, to One Piece Flow that puts work pieces through the machine one by one and Get the finished pieces out one by one continuously.

The processes in a conventional factory have to be done step by step. There are multiple machines and operators for each machine, bringing all 5 processes into one machine. And can produce one piece in a short time with 100% quality.

Tool life management : Tools must be of good quality and used efficiently.

The key component of the machine is tooling, which is a tool used to mill or drill the workpiece. Quality control is required because it directly affects the quality of the workpiece and the tool will last. wear or deteriorate according to use Using expired or deteriorated tools will cause waste. It will waste the cost. Therefore, the machine must have a warning system to change the tool when it expires. To maintain the quality and create the most cost-effective use of the tool.

Tool change over and error proofing : Tool change over and error proofing with Poka-yoke system.

From the pain points of the original production process that had problems in quality control, such as not being able to drill holes in the center. incomplete threaded tap Inserting the workpiece incorrectly or inserting the wrong tool, etc., causing the design of an error proofing or Poka-yoke system to prevent human error. The machine must be able to set up to change to produce different sizes of workpieces easily, reducing time and with accuracy. Machines must install sensors and write software to control them in order to have a system to prevent malfunctions and can immediately notify the operator of abnormalities. This helps a lot in reducing wasted time. and waste from production

All three problems have been designed as a special machine that works automatically from shaft cutting, drilling holes, shoulder making, chamfering and blowing dust, using sensors to measure various processes such as whether the tool matches the size of the workpiece to be produced or not. If it is incorrect, the machine will not be able to operate until the staff corrects it. Or if the tool reaches its end of life, it will stop working and a warning message will be displayed. Until the staff change to bring new items to replace This is to prevent mistakes in production as well.

In addition, although this machine can do many processes. But it is not necessary to complete all processes. You can choose the process you want, for example, select only the hole drilling and tapping process. which meets the needs of producing custom-made products very much

Currently, Interroll Thailand uses a total of 3 special machines designed and manufactured by Eureka Automation to handle workpieces with different specifications.

Mr. Kraisorn revealed that Interroll Thailand's production system is being developed to be more automated. which currently the production line has not converged And it's not completely automated.

Eureka Automation is a Thai SI company that designs, manufactures machinery and automation systems. System Integrator, a new career in Thailand that has occurred in the past few years. Along with the trend of robotics and automation systems that are booming in Thai factories, but "Eureka Automation", a Thai SI company, has 20 years of experience in the industry and still exports machines to customers 15 countries around the world

Mr. Wichet revealed that the beginning of "Eureka Automation" came from a manufacturer and designer of a special machine (Special Machine) in the production process. Both semi-automatic and fully automatic Initially, the main customers were in the automotive industry. And as factories start to look to robots and automation to increase production efficiency. Thus, Eureka Automation's mission as SI began. And the customer base has expanded to other groups besides vehicles, such as warehouses in distribution centers. and various factories, automated production systems or machinery in food processing plants. Electrical and electronic factories and others

The strength of Eureka Automation is our responsibility to our customers and business partners. Our expertise is to design and build automatic machines or systems. Whether in the assembly process (Assembly Process), which accounts for up to 80%, in the testing process (Measurement Testing Process), in the process of moving or storing automated products (Logistics Automation Process), and others according to the needs of Customers who need to be customized

Get to know Interroll, the world's famous brand of belt rollers. Interroll, world famous brand belt roller. that we may have used unconsciously It is an important component in conveying various products in distribution centers such as 7/11 convenience stores or even luggage conveyor belts in Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Mr. Kraisorn explains that these belt rollers are called Modular Conveyor Platform (MCP), which is a modular conveyor system. that provides flexibility in design It can be adapted and reconnected in a variety of ways, which MCP is like a connector that is easy and fast to install, greatly facilitating the system integrator in designing and installing the conveyor system.

Interroll has established an office in Thailand since 1993 under the name " Interroll (Thailand) Company Limited ", initially importing products to be sold in the country. Before starting the production line by changing to use some parts from the country (Local Content) and moving to the new factory at Amata City Industrial Estate, Chonburi in 2019 to meet the growth trend from EEC, Southeast Asia South, and the introduction of automation to replace labor The Interroll plant in Thailand is the only production base in ASEAN and one of the three plants in Asia.