Manufacturing
Develop, produce, improve
Designed and manufactured in Hilden.
We manufacture prototypes, pre-series and small series of 50 to 30,000 units per year in our production facility in Hilden. We take care of procurement, production, quality assurance and ongoing availability checks for all components. We primarily produce devices developed by us for the customer, but also serve as an extended workbench for devices already developed for contract work. We are happy to take on pre-series, small to medium-sized series and spare parts business for you.
Due to the individual devices and the varying quantities, our production is also very flexible and customised. Not every product goes through every production step. Individual, high-quality production is possible thanks to our standardised processes and production documents in the individual departments.
SMD
The fully automated SMD placement technology on the PCB surface has been in use at our company for many years and has proven itself. Many components can be set automatically with high precision and in the shortest possible time and with low error rates. More and more component manufacturers are using new processes to offer components in SMD technology, even connectors or power semiconductors. This technology has certain mechanical and thermal limits, which is why press-fit and THT technology is still used. We have two lines with four SMD placement machines with a lot of equipment (e.g. set-up trolley, hand scanner) for minimum downtimes and set-up times. For quality assurance, there are many specifications according to the four-eyes principle and first piece sampling, which is specially optically checked by an employee and a testing device (set-up control). After placement in the automatic machines, the assemblies are soldered in the reflow oven according to specified and checked heating curves and then AOI tested.
AOI
Our automatic optical inspection is integrated into the line and checks every assembly and every component for various criteria, even for prototypes. Here, a top camera and eight side cameras with different exposures are used to check 3D images of the components, including lettering, component orientation/polarity, component colour, solder connection, short-circuit check between IC pins, etc. Thanks to the integration of the AOI into the line, recognised faults can be rectified directly and major series faults can be avoided.
THT
The classic through-hole technology still has a wide range of applications, as SMD technology has certain mechanical and thermal limits. This activity is mostly manual work (also due to the quantity), which we achieve through high-quality production documents, trained personnel and defined processes. Depending on the quantity and complexity, hand soldering, selective machine soldering or wave soldering is used.
Quality control
Customised electronic assemblies require individual testing of the assemblies. With the support of the development department, we can develop a series test concept for prototypes and customise them for series production. Our in-house test equipment and test adapter construction accelerate the start of series production and enhance our expertise on site. From manual test setups for small quantities and device test requirements to fully automated computerised ICT (In Circuit Tests), a wide range of test options can be used. An ICT can detect short circuits at defined measuring points, measure and calibrate component values, programme controllers and control the module externally for functional tests. Depending on the processing condition of the device (coated or installed in the housing), these are tested several times.
Assembly
Many of our assemblies are mounted in housings, wired or pressed together with other assemblies or covered with an operating foil. Our employees work with the utmost precision, as many of our assemblies are used in the end customer's field of vision, for example in driver's cabs, and great importance is attached to optical accuracy.
Sealing
Applications in special-purpose vehicles and special-purpose machine construction often require a high level of IP protection (dust and water) or a certain degree of vibration protection, including stone impact. In addition, standard enclosures cannot be used for certain device contours or where installation space is limited. We therefore have the following in-house options to fulfil these criteria with XY systems, some of which we have programmed ourselves.
- High IP protection can be realised through two-component resin encapsulation in a half shell. Partially transparent resins are possible. Here, a part or complete assembly is sunk into the ground.
- Thick-film lacquer can be used to coat one side or parts of the PCB with approx. 1 mm thick lacquer using the dam and fill process. Customised contour possible thanks to self-programmable XY system
- The printed circuit board can be made more durable and robust against environmental influences with clear varnish. Due to the low layer thicknesses, this can wear off depending on the place of use.
- Hotmelt/Technomelt. In this process, a mould is created into which the printed circuit board is inserted and completely overmoulded. At the end, a customised housing is moulded around the circuit board.
Shipping
Our dispatch department agrees the delivery conditions with our customer. For many customers, we use returnable packaging to reduce waste and speed up the packing and unpacking process on both sides. Diese Pendelverpackungen können in der Fertigung des Kunden direkt ans Band gestellt werden und nach Öffnung des Deckels die Baugruppen direkt entnommen werden dank Stecksystem.
Internal improvement process
The continuous optimisation of our production and processes is our basis for remaining competitive in Germany. We actively utilise the synergy between production and development in the continuous improvement process, and employee feedback is also incorporated into the production documents and further development of the product's production process. Process optimisation and self-monitoring through production time analysis help to evaluate a change.
