Quality assurance backed by data
Quality checking at Schlote Saar GmbH is one of the core elements in the company’s entire production section. Every workpiece undergoes thorough, fully automated testing at a number of testing stations. All the relevant data is recorded and documented on RFID tags on the products, depending on the customer’s requirements. Tolerances, tightness, surface quality – everything must be right before the components are delivered to the customers.Quality from Saarland
Schlote Saar GmbH operates a state-of-the-art fleet of machines to process gearbox housings, torque converter bell housings, diesel injector pumps, and all rotating gearbox parts. Based in Saarbrücken, the company specializes in processing workpieces made of all kinds of materials using the latest technology. Its customers include many prominent companies in the automotive sector. Its manufacturing activities focus on cast and forged products, which are processed in complex manufacturing cells and lines.
We make increasing use of automated workflows, including integrated assembly processes. This means we can guarantee top quality standards for our customers, with the right processing skills in place to achieve them.Alexander Wolf, Group quality control spokesman, Schlote
Sturdy, compact system for process documentation
We use SIMATIC and SINUMERIK controllers for our plant automation. Data collection using the RFID system and at the machine control panels also draws on quality from Siemens. The components work very well together and enable maximum transparency – important preconditions for process improvements. To continue to satisfy increasing demands, Schlote is working closely with logFOX to digitalize its manufacturing systems, and has already put in place a solution to trace gearbox components using RFID.Requirements from customers in the automotive sector for documentation are constantly growing, which adds to the range of tasks involved in quality assurance.Benno Berger, logFOX CEO
Schlote and logFOX found the solution to ensure smooth process documentation in a robust industrial tablet PC that can be used in all areas of production. “We use the SIMATIC Industrial Tablet PC to collect data directly from the components and for the rational, real-time analysis of error data at the quality control stage, which lets us reflect all the blocking and release processes, including error analysis,” says Wolf. “It was important for us to have a reliable solution we could use to record data and access the information we needed at any time, even away from our regular desks or production work stations. That means we can save a lot of handling effort and thus a lot of time, which makes our quality control processes a whole lot more efficient.”
