A field distributor is created - a look at the production at Nord

Details: Released: 26.02.2020; Last updated: 17.01.2023; Hits: 8889

Regardless of whether they are used in Europe, China or the USA: The cradle of every Nordac Link field divider is in NORD Manufacturing plant in Aurich, East Frisia. The drive specialist started series production of its new one in 2017 field distributor Nordac Link series. The convenient drive solution for flexible, decentralized installation will be manufactured on Aurich location. This article gives a look behind the drive gates of the drive specialist.

Content of the technical article:

Intelligent field distributor for Industry 4.0
- Lot size one or series production - no matter
From the circuit board to the field distributor
Exclude sources of error
- Behind the scenes in the video

The world's leading full-range supplier of electrical, mechanical and electronic drive technology has been maintaining its own in the northwest of Lower Saxony since the early XNUMXs electronics manufacturing. Over the years, the company has continuously expanded its portfolio and location. In 2017 the storage area was expanded by 1000 m² and the production area by 400 m².

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Today Nord Electronic Drivesystems GmbH has 130 employees and produces more than 5000 units per year on an area of 2 m100.000. The portfolio includes modules for electronic drive technology up to 160 kW in the form of converters, motor starters and electronics. At the start of series production of the Nordac Link field distributor, a new assembly line was put into operation last year.

Intelligent field distributor for Industry 4.0

The starting point for the development of the Nordac Link field distributor was the advancing digitization, flexibility and individualization in industry. Customer-specific orders, smaller batch sizes and decentralized devices follow the trend towards Industry 4.0. Modern drive technology not only has to be flexible and customizable, it also has to be capable of being integrated into all systems and systems. The new field distributor takes this development into account.

The field distributor series was specially developed for applications in modern, networked Intralogistik Systems developed. The efficient field distributors are convenient and can be installed flexibly and decentrally. Thanks to the integrated PLC (Programmable Logic Controller), you can take over complete sequence controls and control processes independently. The drive control is available as a frequency converter up to 7,5 kW and as a motor starter up to 3 kW. Both offer quick commissioning, simple operation and maintenance. All modules, components and connections are assembled using simple plug connections.

Decentralized drive technology for the digital factory of the future

Optional integrable maintenance switches and manual control switches ensure a high level of user friendliness. The distributor can be freely configured for any application and is compatible with all standard bus systems. This gives users significantly more options for customization than previous products.

Of course, this also has an impact on the manufacture of the field distributor. The goal when planning the production processes for the distributor was to control all the necessary assembly and test systems based on the individual configuration. Nord has successfully implemented this strategy from the creation of an assembly plan for component assembly to the final inspection and parameterization.

Lot size one or series production - no matter

Not only is the field distributor itself intelligent, individual and flexible, but these properties also apply to its manufacture. The automated and flexible structure in Aurich's production is state of the art. Any order size can be carried out equally. Self Lot size 1 can be implemented without any further setup work. The motto here is maximum speed and efficiency in a lean logistics chain as well as largely paperless production.

The Nordac Link field distributor is produced directly on customer order. In SAP it is configured at the assembly level and then assembled and assembled on an order-related basis. This enables the customer to configure significantly more features.

There are also advantages for the production process, because the entire production is controlled by a central order. All data and information are bundled online and can be accessed anywhere and anytime. For example, the assembly plans and test plans are automatically created from the individual configuration - be it in THT production (Through Hole Technology) or in the SMD area (surface-mounted device).

Find and order spare parts from Getriebebau Nord online

This is a novelty in component assembly. The work plans at the individual stations are displayed in the THT assembly using a 2D code on the assembly. This ensures that the right component is used in the right device and makes the processes very flexible.

An autonomous driverless transport system (AGV) also ensures greater efficiency. It has been in use for a year and is responsible for the transport from goods receipt to the automated small parts warehouse (AKL). The takeover of further routes is planned.

From the circuit board to the field distributor

The efficient process starts at goods receipt. To ensure that as little packaging as possible gets into production, the packages are first freed of the outer packaging and relocated in standard boxes. The AGV takes care of the downstream transport. The goods receive a 2D code with which they can be tracked without gaps until use or vice versa from the serial number of the device to the goods receipt.

The automatic small parts warehouse is the linchpin of the manufacturing process. 2000 six-segment standard boxes are centrally integrated into the production processes. The AKL is a component warehouse, stores semi-finished products and links production processes. After the SMD department, the assembled modules are transported back to the AKL, from where they are removed for further THT processing. An automatic FIFO procedure (First In - First Out) is thus implemented within the production process.

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During the SMD production eight pick and place machines achieve a maximum capacity of 65.000 parts per hour. For error-free production, all assemblies are checked after assembly and soldering in a nitrogen atmosphere using an inline AOI system (automatic optical inspection). In this way, defective components are caught before the next work step and, if possible, repaired. In the THT production, wired components and other components are added. Here soldering takes place in a nitrogen atmosphere. This is followed by a XNUMX% functional test of the modules. From THT production, it goes on to the Kanban warehouse for final assembly. Because all products are made to order, there is little production lead time and little storage space required.

Finally, at the headquarters in Bargteheide, the individual devices - gearbox, motor and converter - from the different production facilities are combined to form a complete drive solution. As the company's logistics hub, Bargteheide has over 34.000 storage spaces, including 17.000 in the high-bay warehouse.

Exclude sources of error with high quality standards

In order to implement the quality standards required on the market, Nord in Aurich has corresponding levels in all production stages quality control integrated. It begins with component checks in the incoming goods department and continues with the upgrade of the placement machines. With the AOI test in the inline system, even the slightest deviations are registered.

After the THT production, all components are tested again. The final test of the complete devices is followed by a final test of all analog and digital I / O and a final performance test under full load. All tests are carried out based on the individual configuration. This ensures additional security - just like the laser labeling of the devices and the visualization of the assembly instructions.

Thanks to the integrated PLC in the frequency converters Nord's drive solutions are self-sufficient and scalable in their function. They allow Industry 4.0 applications such as condition monitoring or predictive maintenance. At the product level, the drive specialist has thus fully arrived in the Industry 4.0 world. The manufacture of the Nordac Link field distributor shows that digitization, automation and the greatest possible flexibility have found their way into the Nord factory.