Eugene Inbaraj, Robot Perception Systems at ifm efector explains to MHD what kitting is, and how the automation solutions company offers the ifm mate kit to help operators with this method and manual assembling processes.
What’s in the box? That’s probably what’s on most people’s minds when opening a new phone package.
The smell of newness permeates the senses, the exhilarating feeling of holding a piece of the latest tech in your hands is almost unbearable. The gorgeous satin pink of the skin, the neatly coiled charging cable that will never remain the same once uncoiled.
Finding the SIM slot on the sleek side and you think, “time to chuck my new SIM in.” You look in the box to locate the tool that pops the SIM slot out. You don’t find it on the tab where it’s supposed to be. Under the owner’s manual? Nope. Good feels exit at this point.
The situation I’ve described here is probably a rarity, but it does happen. Something must have gone wrong in the kitting process. This process of putting nonrelated items: cable, charger, etc, to form a single SKU is commonly known as “kitting.”
GETTING INTO KITTING
Kitting is typically a manual process. It involves the operator having to retrieve different SKUs to form the one part that is eventually dispatched to the customer. The process is not different to the manual assembly of parts.
Take for example a three-way pool valve. This is normally made up three sub-parts: the body, the cover, and the rotating part called the “ball.”
Along with these parts there are also O rings and gaskets that need to be inserted. At any point in the process a part could be missed, or an orientation could be off.
Along with that, walking to and from the warehouse to replenish each sub-part is inefficient. Typically, poka-yoke is used to reduce the errors in the assembly of product or in the kitting process.
While poka-yoke is a tried-and-true method, it still suffers from the error such as bad writing and reading of information, loss of the order sheet and so forth.
So, is there a way to check for errors, reduce walking time, tracking the usage against stock levels to avoid unnecessary delays, and at the end of it provide information about the genealogy of the product?
USING THE ifm mate kit TO ASSEMBLE
With all that in mind we at ifm have developed the ifm mate kit that can help with the kitting and manual assembly processes.
The ifm mate kit uses computer vision to identify and follow the movement of an operator’s hands.
Using a pre-configured sequence, the operator is guided through the sequence by observing visual cues in a monitor. As the operator reaches for parts, the movement of hands is checked. Wrong picks are visualised on the monitor. At each step the process can be checked.
Quantity of materials used is always checked. The time taken to complete one product can be known as well providing close to real time information for an end-user or when optimising despatch times.
Since connectivity to ERP and production planning software can be done easily, track and trace can be achieved easily.
An added benefit to having the ifm mate kit is the savings accrued in time and resource when training operators. Any new changes to the product or a fluctuation in demand means retraining of a current operator, or training of a casual hirer to meet the higher demands.
With the ifm mate kit’s training mode feature employing someone to train and monitor the operator is not necessary anymore. The ifm mate kit will not tire and is consistent. It can truly be your best mate.
Eugene Inbaraj, Robot Perception Systems at ifm efector
For more information on ifm efector, click here.
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