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"Electrical systems are tested in seconds"
The importance of creating an assembly line with test equipment
Before any equipment is shipped to the new owner, certain steps are taken to ensure that the machinery runs smoothly at the plant. One of these steps is to extensively test the equipment before shipment. But setting up the machine is a time-consuming process and therefore we invest a lot in ways to speed up the process so we can shorten the delivery time and at the same time guarantee even higher quality and reliability of the equipment. That is why the Forta GT100 egg grader is built in such a way that it can easily be manufactured and tested due to its modularity in design.
Line assembly
The common practice in the manufacturing industry is to have one team work on the complete project: from start to finish, this team is responsible for every aspect of the machine. To manufacture and assemble the machines in a more efficient way, to anticipate higher volumes and achieve even higher and stable quality, Moba changed the standard way of working and implemented the line assembly. This is a process in which a machine will be assembled in several stages and is moved from one stage to the next until the machine is ready for shipment at the end of the line. This assembly process has already been applied for the manufacturing of the MR12 case packer and this will also be adopted for the Omnia series.
The assembly line makes the manufacturing process more efficient, but if the equipment still needs to be set-up completely at the HQ for testing, this would become a bottleneck. Therefore, to avoid this time-consuming process, Moba eases this process with a modular design. The system is split into smaller parts, the so-called modules, which can be independently manufactured, modified, replaced and tested. By doing this, very high product quality can be combined with a rapid manufacturing process.
Faster and better testing
Modular design is not a new concept at Moba, the modular testing strategy was implemented many years ago. For instance, the packing lanes, infeed systems, loaders and frames of the Omnia grader are already tested separately. Thanks to the level of computerization, the machine part "thinks" that it is in normal operation during the 24 hours burn-in test. In this way, Moba can test each module separately without the equipment being installed completely. The brand new Forta grader is constructed in this way, although the design team went a few steps further.
Mr. Ramon Dekker, the Product Owner of the Forta, explains how his team in the early stages of creating the Forta implemented the idea of modular design. "The manufacturing industry is always changing and demands are high. But what if there was an easier way to manufacture and test our machines? While designing the Forta, we always kept that question in mind. Last year we introduced the Forta to the market and the equipment was met with enthusiasm. Now, to service our customers in the best way and meet the demands of today’s market, we are ready for the next step."
Moba's R&D Team is working on test systems that can be used to test all future Forta machines. "You could say that the test systems go through the same "development" as our machines because these are often machines themselves. They need to meet the same standards and quality requirements as our machines to guarantee that 'Moba Quality'."
"With modular design", Mr. Dekker continues, "we will speed up the manufacturing process and at the same time obtain a higher quality level. Now electrical systems can be tested in seconds instead of the many weeks we would need to set-up and test the equipment. This we all do with one important thing in mind: a happy customer that can count on short delivery time, smooth startup followed by many years of worry-free operation."
Mr. Ramon Dekker