 | |
DEPRAG Support: making quality management for screwdriver assembly systems easier
Vehicle manufacturers can tell you a thing or two about it: recall actions harm your image and destroy customers` trust [in your product]. In its annual report for 2009 the German Federal Motor Transport Authority in Flensburg listed a total of 140 recalls, affecting 617,000 vehicle owners. According to the report, 60 percent of the recalls were the result of mechanical defects. At 17.3 percent, vehicle brake systems are frequently affected. An example from April 2009: an incorrect torque was the probable cause of a recall, in which 10,000 owners were obliged to return their compact cars to the workshop. A screw on the rear brake anchor plate was incorrectly tightened. It threatened to come loose and fall into the brake drum. In a worst case scenario, the rear wheel could have seized.
It follows that preventing screw tightening faults during assembly is of the utmost importance. By implication, it is not only in the automotive industry that producers need to constantly focus on screwdriver accuracy. Modern screwdriver assembly tools are equipped with torque transducers which record, control and log the correct torque during the assembly process. However, these transducers have themselves to be regularly counter checked during the production process, in order to prevent deviations from standard. For example at a shift change, the incoming production operative checks that the torque transducer is operating correctly. This check is made at an inspection station. Such an inspection station delivers extremely accurate measurement results, but, likewise, must be tested on a test stand at a DKD-accredited laboratory (DKD = German Calibration Service). This is where a recalibration is carried out.
|
