At Sennheiser Manufacturing USA in Albuquerque, precision is non-negotiable.
Each week, the power assembles 30,000 printed circuit boards (PCBs) that energy 1,500 skilled audio gadgets for the Americas and Asia. With 115 completely different PCB variants working via manufacturing, automation is crucial to keep up throughput and high quality.
However one essential step remained handbook: 100% PCB testing.
As manufacturing elevated, testing turned a bottleneck.
Right here’s how Sennheiser eliminated that bottleneck and elevated the variety of PCBs examined by 33% in a single yr.
Outcomes at a look
- 33% improve in PCBs examined inside one yr
- 115 PCB variants dealt with with one adaptive gripper
- 100% PCB check protection maintained
- Actual-time cobot KPI monitoring carried out
- Second cobot justified utilizing manufacturing information
Maintain studying for the total story…
The problem: handbook PCB testing turned a bottleneck
“At Sennheiser, we check every little thing 100%,” explains Manufacturing Supervisor Steven Nery.
The method was easy however repetitive:
- An operator locations a PCB into the tester
- Closes the fixture
- Waits for the check cycle
- Removes the board
- Hundreds the subsequent one
Repeat for eight hours.
With 115 PCB varieties and rising manufacturing demand, handbook dealing with restricted scalability. The staff wanted an answer that might:
- Deal with frequent half changeovers
- Adapt to completely different PCB sizes and type components
- Preserve constant high quality
- Combine rapidly with out disrupting manufacturing
The answer: versatile gripping and collaborative automation
Take a look at Engineer Roger Case started exploring automation choices. The breakthrough got here with Robotiq’s 2F-85 Adaptive Gripper.
“Robotiq had a singular resolution: a dependable gripper that may handle half changeovers rapidly, which was necessary for our high-mix, high-volume manufacturing. Plus, its huge stroke match the shape issue of the PCBs we have been .”
Inside weeks, the staff deployed a Common Robots UR5 cobot outfitted with the 2F-85.
The automated workflow:
- The robotic picks up a PCB with the gripper
- Strikes it to a scanner to validate half ID
- Hundreds it into the tester
- The tester indicators begin
- After testing, the system sends a go/fail message
- The robotic types the PCB into the suitable bin
The consequence was a repeatable, constant testing cycle — with out handbook intervention.
Measuring efficiency with Robotiq Insights
From the start, Sennheiser handled their cobot like a brand new staff member. They even named it ART (Automated Robotic Crew member).
However efficiency wanted to be measurable.
“Since we at all times consider how new workers are performing, I advised our managers we must always do the identical for ART,” says Case.
To trace KPIs, the staff linked the robotic to Robotiq Insights, a web-based monitoring utility.
Insights rapidly turned a store ground management instrument utilized by a number of teams:
- Managers use dashboards to visualise manufacturing efficiency
- Engineers obtain every day studies and cease alerts
- Operators obtain notifications when trays want reloading
“I take advantage of Insights to speak info to non-engineering individuals, as a result of I can simply level to the dashboard and clarify what’s occurring,” says Nery.
When the robotic stops, the staff is aware of instantly — and might react rapidly. That visibility remodeled automation from a black field right into a controllable, optimizable course of.
33% extra PCBs examined with increased consistency
After one yr, the numbers have been clear.
“With ART1, we noticed a rise of round 33% within the variety of PCBs examined over a yr,” says Case. “And the standard was increased as a result of the dealing with was extra constant.”
The manufacturing information collected via Insights helped justify the acquisition of a second cobot.
At this time, ART2 (a UR5e) operates alongside ART1, and the manufacturing facility is aiming to double PCB testing capability.
The primary deployment eliminated a bottleneck. The second scaled a confirmed system.
A brand new function on the store ground
Automation didn’t remove jobs; it elevated them.
Marcella Segovia beforehand carried out the repetitive handbook testing course of. At this time, she runs the robotic testing operation.
She:
- Prepares trays
- Prioritizes job orders
- Modifications robotic applications for various PCB varieties
- Displays manufacturing
Insights sends her a textual content message when trays are empty so she is aware of when to reload.
“I used to be a bit petrified of the robots at first, however I actually needed to discover ways to run them,” she says. “They’re quick, however I can sustain — and it’s nice how a lot we’ve elevated our numbers.”
Repetitive handbook testing turned a higher-value technical function on the heart of manufacturing.
The larger image: scaling with information, not assumptions
Sennheiser didn’t automate every little thing directly.
They:
- Recognized a transparent bottleneck
- Deployed a versatile cobot cell
- Measured efficiency
- Used actual manufacturing information to justify scaling
That’s Lean Robotics in motion.
By combining a versatile adaptive gripper, a collaborative robotic, and real-time efficiency monitoring, Sennheiser turned testing right into a aggressive benefit — and constructed a transparent path for future enlargement.
If PCB testing is limiting your throughput, the chance is probably not in including labor — however in eradicating the bottleneck with versatile automation and measurable efficiency.
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