Böllhoff
Böllhoff
Challenges
As a leader in joining solutions, Böllhoff group develop high quality fixtures – such screws, fasteners and assembly systems – for a variety of industries, including aerospace, energy and automotive. Additive Marking was brought in to consult on how to develop End-to-End traceability in the production of spindles for their helicoils. Components that were smaller in diameter and had curved surfaces meant they could not be labelled by conventional means, requiring a project to be undertaken to identify how best to integrate direct markings onto the parts to facilitate the required traceability.
Solution
Through our consultancy project with Böllhoff, we discovered that laser marking technology offered the best solution for embedding unique, machine-readable codes into these spindles. With direct labelling successfully integrated into the components, several benefits became apparent. Data at each stage of manufacturing could be recorded, improving quality management throughout the whole production process. CAD generation of machine readable codes meant parameters could be assigned to the components with minimal manual input, reducing likelihood of error. Inventory management became more efficient, as booked tools could be tracked and their location logged directly in their ERP system.
