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CAD Visualization Tools Improve Assembly Accuracy |
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When Saft Power Systems of Toronto went through a recent assembly process cost-cutting initiative, it found an opportunity to address three areas: rework, training and quality improvement.
According to Saft mechanical engineer Vincent Adinkrah, ìthe proper assembly instructions required need to be detailed enough to address these three issues.î
To help with this process, Saft enlisted mechanical designer Miroslav Mitrovic of Brampton, ON-based Bluming Inc. (bluming.com). Mitrovic went to work on capturing the 3D data into Solid Edge mechanical CAD software (solidedge.com) for a battery charger (above) for electric pump trucks and forklift vehicles. Visual Studio Plus, a rendering package inside Solid Edge, also helped to show Saftís customer the product in advance of production.
ìFirst I modeled a prototype by measuring the internal components,î said Mitrovic. ìSaft wanted the assembly process broken down into individual steps as drawings to improve productivity.î
Close to 100 components had to be painstakingly modeled, including cable harnesses, connectors, heat sinks, PCBs, colored wire, LEDs, reset button, power cord with strain relief, ac snap-in connectors and a transformer. ìWhen a phone jack connector was added to the design, the software easily allowed moving the handle on the chassis to provide connector access.î
With Adinkrahís knowledge of the product, along with the experience of assemblers and technicians who put the battery chargers together, Mitrovic was then able to clarify complex instruction drawings and present them in the proper sequence.
Adinkrah is pleased with the results. ìThe reduction in rework and quality resulted from all units being assembled the same way using visual aids and easy-to-read color illustrations. The use of color and especially the wire/cable module of Solid Edge was able to model the wire routing, geometry, termination point and hardware termination with out heavy verbiage or risk of confusion to the operator.
ìThis is especially important when assembly and configuration could be easily mistaken for 12 cell when one required a six cell.î The 100 to 480 AH-rated battery chargers are intended to charge 6, 9 or 12 cells lead-acid batteries.
ìThe Solid Edge model files with wire module could be used as training aids for the operators. Hence during the product launch, 90 to 95% of all wiring concerns were addressed, including method and sequence of assembly. This normally would require many weeks of production with operator and supplier errors to correct,î added Adinkrah.
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