E Corp. manufactures a variety of AGVs for the logistics industry. One of their main products is an AGV which lifts and moves shelves. Right after a model change, this AGV began to experience assembly defects. Mr. F, head of E Corp.'s Development and Design Department, explains.
"We had problems with the quality of the servo motors used for the rotary table, and there were many assembly defects. We thought about replacing them with a servo motor from a manufacturer we could trust to quickly improve the quality."
However, there was a problem that troubled their engineers.
"Due to cost constraints, we could only replace the servo motors. For this reason, we needed servo motors that could be controlled by our existing amplifiers. However, there was a limit to what we could do on our own, and it would be difficult to replace the servo motors without the technical support of a motor manufacturer," explained Mr. F. E Corp. engineers were scrambling for countermeasures as the delivery date drew near.
Looking for a solution, Mr. F visited the SANYO DENKI display at a technology expo and discussed his issues with them.
"I felt that SANYO DENKI is a reliable manufacturer that could provide stable products because they conduct thorough inspections for all of their products. I thought that we could solve our quality problem by using SANYO DENKI products," said Mr. F.
Later, a SANYO DENKI sales representative visited E Corp. with a technical support team. After hearing about their issues and confirming detailed specifications of the motors they are replacing, the technical support team made a proposal based on the SANMOTION K DC servo motor.
"In addition to the sales representative, being able to talk directly and share detailed requests with the engineers helped us select a motor easily. Evaluation went smoothly because we could mount the prototype on the actual machine, and adjust the servo motor while checking its operation. Our AGV requires stable movement because it lifts and moves shelves, and with the proposed SANMOTION K DC servo motor, we felt that we could achieve smooth and stable movement," recalled Mr. F..
The technical support team also suggested detailed customizations that satisfied Mr. F.
"We were not sure if we could just replace the servo motors and keep the same control system, but the appeal of the SANMOTION K DC servo motor to us was that we could keep using the same control system environment. They also customized the encoder to meet our requirements. As a result, we could replace the motor with one of the same size as in our current system, which relieved our engineers," beamed Mr. F.
The results of the actual device evaluation were as expected, and they officially adopted the product.
SANYO DENKI continued to provide support and E Corp. successfully replaced the servo motors.
"After replacing the servo motors, there have been no more assembly defects and we are moving smoothly towards production," concluded Mr. F. "SANYO DENKI's high-quality products, quick proposals, and technical support helped us solve technical problems that we could not have handled on our own. I would be happy to consult with them again in the future."
