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Engineering Manager Harry Snee (1st row, 3rd from r.)
with the Krauss III team at Ikeda Hoover in Sunderland
Ikeda Hoover is specialized in car seats,
eg, for the Nissan Micra
Mixing heads mounted on an articulated-arm robot
for complex pour patterns
Car seat squab finishing, in the background "Krauss III"
Seat components; Demoulding
RIM-Star mixing and metering units installed on
a platform above the moving mould carriers
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Quality - Just in Time
Ikeda Hoover, Sunderland (UK), was set up in 1986 as a joint venture between Ikeda Bussan (Japan) and Johnson Controls (USA).
The company supplies the nearby Nissan plant with complete, ready-to-assemble car seats. Focussed on a single customer, Ikeda Hoover's process flow and highly automated logistics are carefully tuned to the requirements of Nissan's assembly line.
Putting it all together
At Ikeda Hoover, all the threads run together in the final assembly area. Here the components produced in the metal processing shop, the foam facilities and the fabric workshops are built into complete car seats for just-in-time delivery to the Nissan production line. Currently the Ikeda Hoover plant is manufacturing the full range of seat options for Nissan's Primera, Almera and Micra models. The whole process, from the order being generated (point of order) to bolting the seat into a car on the Nissan assembly line (point of fix), takes only between 180 and 210 minutes. Ikeda Hoover employs 688 people and produces around 340 000 seat units per year.
Foam production
Ikeda Hoover has three Krauss-Maffei production systems installed: a 34-station system for headrest pads, a 15-carrier rotary-table system (Krauss II) and an oval conveyor system with 36 mould carriers (Krauss III) both for seat cushions. "These systems all achieve a very good return on investment. Each new system has outperformed the earlier ones in this respect," says Harry Snee, engineering manager at Ikeda Hoover.
Krauss II – proven engineering
Krauss II is a continuous-operation rotary-table system with robot-guided mixing-head units. Two foam grades are poured to produce a seat squab with different compression hardness zones, for example, a softer sitting area with a firmer surround. High production speed means high productivity.
Krauss III – the newcomer
Krauss III, a 36-station oval conveyor system also used to produce seat squabs, is the latest addition to the foam production floor. Two robot-mounted mixing heads deliver the foam components. Here too, computercontrolled changes to mixing ratios and pour patterns allow production of seat squabs with precisely controlled variation in compression hardness. Four RIM-Star mixing and metering units with magnetic couplings are positioned on an upper platform above the moving mould carriers. Drip trays under each unit prevent contamination. The RIM-Star has been engineered to allow easy access for cleaning and maintenance. "Contamination-free operation and steady high output are very important factors in our production process," comments Harry Snee, "because they have a strong impact on costeffectiveness." The very fast Krauss III is capable of producing more than ten foam pads per minute.
Pacing production
Production is not buffered, so it is essential that activities in the different production areas are closely coordinated to ensure punctual and flexible delivery of complete seat units to the Nissan assembly lines. Sophisticated logistics planning enables Ikeda Hoover to live up to customer expectations. The three Krauss-Maffei foam systems are perfectly adapted to this logistics concept. In addition, standard operator interfaces and process control, together with simplified spare parts logistics make for efficiency and cost savings.
For further information contact Mike Bate at Krauss-Maffei UK Tel: +44 (0) 1925 644107, e-mail .
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