Many small and medium-sized industrial machinery manufacturers rely on their ability to develop "one-off" equipment and small-lot production to manage their companies. However, because small-lot orders inevitably have a small buffer, they are constantly pressed for short delivery times and cost reductions, while working hard to improve quality.
Company W, an industrial machinery manufacturer engaged in the development and manufacture of production equipment for various factories, faced several difficult problems in the development of equipment for small-lot projects.
The company receives spot orders and requests for the development of special products several times a year, but because of the short delivery time of these projects, in many cases the load conditions of the equipment could not be detailed in advance.
Therefore, there was no time to select a new motor capacity, and in many cases, the capacity was determined with a large margin based on past experience, and the capacity selection was judged for the first time on the actual machine during prototype production. Mr. F, a development manager at the company, said, "In many cases, we had no time to select a new motor capacity.
In extreme cases, as long as it worked, we were OK with it. Because we had to take a chance, we had to have a large margin for motor capacity, and as a result, there were always cases where we ended up with over-specification."
Company W employed a 200 W servo motor in the production of a prototype for a certain spot project, but this was not the result of selection according to the load.
The previous model had 200W, so we decided on this one as well. This resulted in a higher total cost and made it impossible to secure sufficient profit. (Mr. F)
Although Company W had survived the market competition by responding flexibly to customer needs, Mr. F felt the need for a drastic improvement in development.
Mr. F happened to be visiting a SANYO DENKI CO., LTD. sales representative for regular support of mass production equipment, and consulted him about the problems his company was facing. After looking at the actual machine data, the sales representative immediately suggested to Mr. F that he change to the closed-loop Stepping Systems" SANMOTION Model No.PB ( Closed Loop )".
The next day, when we looked at the detailed motor selection results submitted by the person in charge, we found that a 200W servo motor was over-specified as expected. We were also surprised to find that by replacing the servo system with a closed-loop Stepping Systems, we could reduce the total cost more than we had expected.
"It's true that SANMOTION Model No.PB ( Closed Loop ) allows us to make the motor more compact by utilizing the high torque in the low-speed range, and it also allows us to reduce costs compared to servo motors, so it was the optimal choice. However, we explained that we didn't have time to replace the motor because the delivery deadline was approaching." (Mr. F)
In response, the person in charge explained to Mr. F that there is a "quick delivery service" that can deliver a system with optimal specifications in a short period of time, and that it would be enough to replace the motors even now. Mr. F was even more surprised by this "quick delivery" proposal.
"I didn't think SANYO DENKI CO., LTD. could deliver immediately, so they weren't even on my list of options, but they said they could ship the next day, which would be plenty of time to meet the customer's deadline." (Mr. F)
Mr. F decided to replace the servo system and informed the person in charge. The product was delivered just two days after the order was placed, as scheduled, and the actual machine test could be conducted on schedule.
"SANYO DENKI CO., LTD. products have always been highly rated for their quality, performance, and reliability, but I assumed that delivery times were long. However, I was surprised to learn that a wide range of products are eligible for short-term delivery services. The lineup not only includes servo systems and Stepping Systems, but also fans and UPS, so it looks like we will have a wider range of product choices." (Mr. F)
In this way, W Company was able to reduce costs and the installation space required by proposing the optimal system for the load. In addition, the timely delivery of the high-performance servo system and Stepping Systems contributed greatly to improving the entire development process. Mr. F said:
"I think this proposal was possible only because SANYO DENKI CO., LTD. has an extensive lineup of products eligible for their short-term delivery service. Up until now, we have excluded SANYO DENKI CO., LTD. from the selection process for short-term product prototypes, which has been a huge waste. In the future, we would like to consult with them not only about motors but also about other parts."
For more information about stepping motors, please see "What is a stepping motor? An explanation of its structure, types, usage (drive system and control method), advantages and features."
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