Company N manufactures and sells various industrial machines, including electric wire processing machines. Recently, the company has begun developing a new model with improved processing speed in response to the increasing demand for wire harnesses. Director I of the Development Department at Company N says:
"The most important factor required for a wire processing machine is processing speed. This was something we received a lot of requests from our customers. Even with the current model, it is possible to cut, strip, and crimp one wire in less than one second, but our customers wanted us to further improve the processing speed while maintaining a high level of precision."
Mr. I and his team reviewed the specifications in order to increase the processing speed, but they immediately ran into a problem.
"In our current models, we used a microcomputer for upper-level motion control, but there were many cases where we could no longer procure microcomputer boards due to the discontinuation of IC production, and we had to make design changes each time this happened, which we struggled to deal with. In addition, with microcomputer control, a command cable is required for each servo amplifier, which increases the amount of wiring work, and this was also an important point for improvement," said Mr. I.
Another issue that cannot be avoided is cost.
"Amid intensifying price competition, the demand for lower prices for wire processing machines is becoming increasingly severe, so we needed to reduce costs. We had to think of ways to meet these demands, not only while maintaining processing precision, but also while saving costs and achieving even higher speeds," said Mr. I.
Mr. I, who continued to gather information to solve the problems, consulted SANYO DENKI CO., LTD., with whom he had connections in another department, about these issues.
When the SANYO DENKI CO., LTD. representative visited Mr. I later, he checked the specifications and listened to Mr. I's issues in detail. After that, he first proposed the "SANMOTION R ADVANCED MODEL," AC Servo Systems that supports the open network "EtherCAT."
"EtherCAT is widely used, especially in the factory automation field, and its versatility means we no longer have to make design changes due to the discontinuation of IC production. In addition, because we can set optimal parameters for the servo system via EtherCAT, we can expect to see a significant improvement in the equipment's cycle time," said Mr. I.
Furthermore, the SANYO DENKI CO., LTD. representative explained that in addition to the servo system, the total cost could be reduced by using the closed-loop Stepping Systems" SANMOTION Model No.PB ( Closed Loop )" for the short stroke axes of the equipment. Mr. I was satisfied with this proposal.
"It is faster and more reliable than a normal Stepping Systems, and we expected that we could reduce the cost of the system while maintaining the same machining quality." (Mr. I)
Mr. I was convinced by the proposal and decided to conduct an evaluation immediately. At that time, SANYO DENKI CO., LTD. delivered the evaluation sample in a short time and also provided technical support to N Company.
A few months later, the prototype was successfully completed. As a result, Company N decided to officially adopt it, judging that it would be able to fully overcome the initial challenges, and soon began mass production of the new model.
He had this to say about this hire:
"The product, which was released after much anticipation, has been very well received by our customers. We believe that we were able to achieve our initial goals thanks to their precise proposals based on a thorough understanding of the specifications. SANYO DENKI CO., LTD. also provided us with generous support, and the entire development team is grateful."
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