„Smart inline manufacturing“

Simon: Electrical switching elements in a continuous and fully automated production process

At the Spanish company Simon Holding S.L., a new BIMERIC BM 3000 is telescoping the various separate work steps previously involved in module manufacture into a single end-to-end, fully-automated production process. In this way, this long-standing company has made a real leap in terms of technology that is reducing product costs, increasing production speed and also contributing to quality assurance.

“Our company has been a successful actor in the lighting and electronic engineering market since 1916 – that is to say for over 100 years – and has always been a source of pioneering innovations,” says Francesc Llamas Asensi, Industrialization Director at the Spanish Simon Holding S.L., speaking with justifiable pride. “For example, we were one of the first companies in Spain to offer solutions for domestic electrical installations and outdoor lighting and we also pioneered smart control technology for underfloor heating." Today, the Group, which has nine production sites worldwide, has a product portfolio that includes not only conventional switches and sockets but also, for example, components for indoor lighting, lighting management systems, plug connections and charging systems for electric cars.

Extensive inhouse production

The Group has always boasted a high level of inhouse production, in particular at the level of the assemblies it uses: “We manufacture all the plastic components and metal parts we require ourselves and also perform final assembly to create the finished modules,” explains Laura Prieto Flores from Simon Holding S.L.’s commercial department. “This means that we cover the entire process chain and produce everything we need ourselves.” And for decades, the company has been using Bihler technology to manufacture the required standard-and-bended parts. For example, it purchased its first Bihler stamping and forming machine, an RM 25, back in 1968 and the company’s Bihler machine pool now comprises some 30 mechanical Bihler systems. “Our Bihler systems may be getting on a bit and procuring spare parts can be difficult, in particular when it comes to control components, but we are deliberately keeping them going,” explains Asensi. “With their mechanical design, they function reliably and extremely precisely and give us exactly the parts quality that is so important for us.”

Fundamental restructuring

When Simon Holding S.L. recently specifically restructured its process chain for complex parts, it was therefore not in order to improve parts quality: “In the past, we performed plastic parts production, metalworking activities and assembly at three distinct sites. This involved us in a lot of complex and expensive logistics and a high level of material rotation, and also meant that we always had to manufacture in extremely process-oriented batches,” reports Asensi. “Our aim was therefore to standardize our materials flow, optimize the entire production chain and, ultimately, to manufacture our assemblies in a single, end-to-end, fully-automated production process That is why we decided to acquire a new BIMERIC BM 3000.“

Successful technological leap

The BIMERIC BM 3000 is currently being used to manufacture electrical circuit elements, for which the required metal components are first stamped and bended. The system then performs the inline feed of the spring unit and plastic parts, runs an electrical function test and outputs the finished, fully-assembled module at the rate of one a second. This process is just one example of the many advantages that the Bihler servo production and assembly system has brought to this long-established company. As Asensi makes clear: “The system has enabled us to greatly reduce our product costs because many of the previous non-value-added work steps are now simply no longer required, our material logistics have become a lot less demanding and we no longer need any intermediate warehousing.” “It also means that we can manufacture faster than before and don’t need such long lead times,” adds Flores. And, last but not least, the new system also helps improve quality assurance because potential parts defects are immediately detected during the process – unlike in the past, when problems were not always identified at the separate stations. Both Flores and Asensi therefore have no doubts: “With the BIMERIC BM 3000 and end-to-end inline manufacture, we have made a real leap at the technological level. The system has completely changed our approach to production and is also the ideal platform for future Simon product launches.”