Packaging Sensors with ICS685
Speedy Quality Checks For Sensor Kits
In business, innovation takes many forms. A popular sensor manufacturer is innovative not only in its product offering but also in the way it manages quality. Ifm ensures its products are intact by using weighing during packing. This two-in-one solution boosts productivity while saving time and money.
A German manufacturer of innovative sensor technology, ifm, checks the length of cables by weight. Sensors are shipped to customers with a pre-fitted cable. The cable length should be within a narrow tolerance. Cables that do not fall within the preset parameters must be sorted out so they are not shipped. The sensors are sorted and packaged by hand.
Weighing for quality
Ifm uses a workstation where sensors are simultaneously packaged and checked for weight. A shipping box is used as the tare weight and subsequently filled with products. The weighing platform is placed under the shipping box, checking the weight of every item placed inside
Ergonomic installation
The digital weighing platform PBD655 is installed on a company’s mobile shipping box storage unit. The positioning of the terminal allows for ergonomic placement of shipping boxes directly below the display. This allows a clear view of the weighing results and helps operators avoid unnecessary head movements. The ICS685 terminal features a colorWeight® display, which shows in- or out-of-specification results using color indicators for high readability, even from a distance.
Fail-safe workflow
An operator uses a barcode scanner to retrieve the article number and stored tolerances. The product is then placed in the shipping box. If a sensor is within predefined parameters, the scale will automatically zero, and the process can continue. If the cable length is out of tolerance, the scale does not zero, but instead shows a color indicating a faulty piece. The operator removes the product from the shipping box.
Wireless scale set-up
Because this application is fully mobile and deployable at different workplaces throughout the factory, ifm uses the DatabICS PC software to store the item number, target weight and tolerances. The METTLER TOLEDO solution manages the product data. The data is imported from SAP via Microsoft Excel into the software. For each item, the manual entry of approximately 850 articles is minimized. The item data is transferred to the ICS685 terminals in production via WLAN.
As a result, ifm avoids both redundant data management and production stops because the data can be transferred to the weighing terminals at any time. This easy-to-use procedure incorporates two process steps into one, resulting in time and money savings right away.
The ifm manufacturing process developer says the lean and efficient set-up meets the company’s requirements. “METTLER TOLEDO offered a complete solution, tailored to our needs. They provided a solution quickly, easily, safely and to our complete satisfaction,” he says.
