We all learn from our mistakes. Sometimes we even learn enough to become the world market leader. Accordingly, quality inspections and function checks are of tremendous importance for our work. They teach us how to improve the quality of our products continuously and increase the production depth at our headquarters near Hamburg. To ensure that defects occur only at our factory - if at all - we inspect all parts multiple times. After each and every work step. No less than four times between receiving and final installation. This is what we mean by "Made in Germany" quality.
In the stress tests, all components have to perform outstandingly well. The test chamber is called the "Muckibude", the local dialect term for gym. There, each drive has to sweat out 10,000 to 20,000 double strokes in extremely tough conditions to prove that it meets our high standard of quality.
By consistently expanding automation in production, we have already taken an important step towards the future. This has enabled us to cut production costs, boost efficiency and improve quality. The best part: automation has not negatively affected our workforce. Instead, employees have received special training that enables them to make a long-term contribution as we move towards Industry 4.0.
In addition to the automation of various production parts, handmade custom solutions are our strength and our signature. For this purpose, we have a highly experienced team with first-class training. Thus D+H offers expertise in smoke extraction and ventilation that is unmatched anywhere in the world. Whatever handmade custom solution your requirement calls for, we can provide it.
As a family-owned company, we place particular importance and value on our employees. To ensure their happiness and well-being in production, each employee has the ability to actively contribute to determining the nature of his or her workplace. Experience has shown that the one-piece-flow method is the best suited to this purpose.
In this procedure, each employee assembles entire products, piece by piece, at his or her production island. This is not only more efficient and beneficial to product quality, but also substantially more motivating than conventional work on an assembly line.
To keep shortening production times in future, offer maximum flexibility and high availability to meet customer requirements, we are continuing to make investments, both in our headquarters and in our production depth. Since 2016, a new, fully automated rod machining centre has been making housings for our window drives.
All surface-mounted device (SMD) components for drives and controllers are produced using automated placement machines. For this purpose, the circuit boards are placed on belts that guide them into the machine. A robot arm positions the electronic components with lightning speed and accurate to the millimetre. The components placed on the board are then soldered using the reflow soldering process. The last step is automated optical inspection of all boards by a high-resolution camera and specially trained personnel.
The employee-based workflow is a term from the Toyota Production System. This refers to a production system in which production is carried out, piece by piece, by a single employee. Drawing on current insights from research and the sciences, we have developed a special one-piece-flow for D+H. Each employee produces in a production island specially configured for him or her. Special "milk runners" supply them with all the individual parts they need.
In the new rod machining centre at headquarters, the ALBZ-100 mills and drills the aluminium housings for our drives. Thus the new machine cuts production times in half. In addition to the time savings, it offers high production flexibility and higher availability for meeting customer requirements. In future, significantly faster response to customer requests will be possible, along with a real boost in the speed of production. The machine, which costs some 450,000 euros, needs only a few seconds for each tube.
We record every production order in SAP and forward them directly to the workstations on the production floor. State-of-the-art touchscreens give employees an overview of all pending orders and allow them insight into all important documents relating to the solutions being produced. Even the labels and type plates can be printed through the production data acquisition system. This system has given an enormous boost to the efficiency of our production processes and is a vital component of our Industry 4.0 standard.
All surface-mounted device (SMD) components for drives and controllers are produced using automated placement machines. For this purpose, the circuit boards are placed on belts that guide them into the machine. A robot arm positions the electronic components with lightning speed and accurate to the millimetre. The components placed on the board are then soldered using the reflow soldering process. The last step is automated optical inspection of all boards by a high-resolution camera and specially trained personnel.
The employee-based workflow is a term from the Toyota Production System. This refers to a production system in which production is carried out, piece by piece, by a single employee. Drawing on current insights from research and the sciences, we have developed a special one-piece-flow for D+H. Each employee produces in a production island specially configured for him or her. Special "milk runners" supply them with all the individual parts they need.
In the new rod machining centre at headquarters, the ALBZ-100 mills and drills the aluminium housings for our drives. Thus the new machine cuts production times in half. In addition to the time savings, it offers high production flexibility and higher availability for meeting customer requirements. In future, significantly faster response to customer requests will be possible, along with a real boost in the speed of production. The machine, which costs some 450,000 euros, needs only a few seconds for each tube.
We record every production order in SAP and forward them directly to the workstations on the production floor. State-of-the-art touchscreens give employees an overview of all pending orders and allow them insight into all important documents relating to the solutions being produced. Even the labels and type plates can be printed through the production data acquisition system. This system has given an enormous boost to the efficiency of our production processes and is a vital component of our Industry 4.0 standard.
