Greater traceability with needle embossing of Scania's engine blocks
In order for Scania to continue to guarantee its customers the same high quality, the requirement on traceability has been tightened. Scania took the help of Elektroautomatik, which delivered a marking station where the engine blocks are marked using needle embossing.
Traceable marking with needle embossing
To comply with the requirements for greater traceability of Scania’s engine blocks, Elektroautomatik supplied a marking station where the engine blocks are marked on the line using needle embossing. The result gave the desired effect and now all information about the parts is stored in an easy-to-grasp system.
– We are very pleased with both the solution and Elektroautomatik as supplier, says Fredrik Zelazny, responsible Project Manager at Scania. We chose Elektroautomatik because they feel secure. A stable and safe company quite simply. They understood our needs and could deliver the right solution at the right price.
“Together with the customer, we always perform a proper risk analysis before we go in and poke around. As a supplier, this is a large part of our expertise and both the customer and we must always feel completely confident with one another.”
Installation in existing equipment
– For it to be possible to integrate the new marking station, the existing flow had to be split, Sören Frid, responsible at Elektroautomatik, says. Disrupting an existing line is always rather risky because there is a risk the flow will be damaged. Together with the customer, we always perform a proper risk analysis before we go in and poke around. As a supplier, this is a large part of our expertise and both the customer and we must always feel completely confident with one another.
The marking machine is built into a protected section of the line, where the engine block is washed down first. Afterwards, an individual code is needle embossed, which is then read off with the help of a vision camera. The code is stored in a system and can be directly read off by the operator on a screen outside the station. The entire process from the engine block travelling into the marking station until it is marked and ready does not take more than a couple of minutes.
An increasingly individualised market is increasing the demand for traceability
– The industrial market is becoming increasingly individualised and we are seeing an increased need for traceable marking, Sören says. The opportunities here are very large and the different ways of marking vary, of course, depending on the customer’s type of product, materials and size.