amaze, the automated assembly machine for integral shaft bearings - engg excellence nomination

1. Amaze, The Automated Assembly
Machine For Integral Shaft Bearings
Engineering EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2013
Category: “Technology/Innovation”
“Implemented at: Ring Plus Aqua Ltd”
11 October 2013 1
10th Oct’2013

2. Introduction to Integral Shaft Bearings
Business Opportunities & Challenges
Conventional Bearing Assembly – Process Flow & Limitations
Automated Bearing Assembly Machine - Operations
Error Proofing
Benefits of Automated Bearing Assembly Machine
Patent and National Level Recognition
Contents
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3. Introduction To Integral Shaft Bearings
Integral Shaft Bearing has two widely spaced rows of rolling element, do not have inner ring but raceways machined
directly on the surface of the shaft. As a result there is more space available for the rolling elements, giving higher
load carrying capacity with reduced price than conventional single row bearings. Water pump bearings are ready-to-
fit bearing units. It comprises a shaft, an outer ring and rolling elements in between. The bearings are greased for its
life and protected against environmental influences by two sealing rings.
These bearing are being used in water pumps for automotive & non-automotive applications.
Current major OEM customers are ………….
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4. Business Opportunities & Challenges
Opportunity
Collective business potential of INR 200Mn
Challenge
Revamp of conventional bearing assembly lines to eliminate
manual intervention during bearing assembly processes to meet
requirement of these customers
Improve positioning
● Tier progression from current Tier 2 to Tier 1 for
new products (forged components and
transmission gears
New products & accounts
● Enter into products currently being manufactured
by OEMs themselves, due to presence of few
quality suppliers
● High value fully machined forged components
● Fully finished transmission gears
● Diversification of customer base through new
accounts, a key strategic growth driver
● Accelerate growth across base business segments
(ring gears, bearings, pulleys and flexplates)
through both
● Growth in domestic market of ~14% and export
market of ~5%
● Increasing penetration and market share
bilities – supplement all the other growth
rs
bility to manufacture world class product using
ate of the art technology
t competitive price
World class quality standards
lobal SCM & VMI solutions
esign engineering, validation & testing
● To use the inorganic route to enter into
 New product line/ platform
 New geographies
 Acquire technology
 Acquire customer
Conventional Bearing
Assembly Processes !!!
INR
200Mn
Automated
Bearing
Assembly
Machine

5. Conventional Bearing Assembly - Process Flow
All these Operations
are interlinked
Based on PLC logics
Ball Fillings
Cage Fixing
Clearances
Measurement
Manual Gauging
of shafts
Manual Gauging
of sleeves
`
Signal to
start next
greasing
cycle
OK Not OK
Packing Rejection Bin
Signal to
start next
greasing
cycle
Grease Filling
Seal Fixing
Spinning
Weighing
`
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6. Limitations of Conventional Bearing Assembly
Conventional Assembly - Drawbacks
Shaft & Sleeve sorting at 2 different stations and offered for bearing assembly at the 3rd stn.
Manual ball selection & filling
Manual axial & radial inspection of bearings
Manual intervention at each stage of bearing assembly, thus chances of incorrect assembly
Inadequate error proofing, thus chances of wrong assembly
Operator dominant process, thus high level of skill required for bearing assembly
All the above results in process variation, thus inconsistent product quality
Hesitation for the acceptance of our bearing assembly line from OEM Customers
11 October 2013 6

7. Automated Bearing Assembly Line - Conceptualization
Manufacturing
&
commissioning
of Bearing
Assembly Line
Define the
requirements
for machine
Selection of
supplier and
sign-off Non-
Disclosure
Agreement
(NDA)
Release of PO
with
Statement Of
requirements
(SOR)
Machine
lay-out
approval
11 October 2013 7
Supplier
Evaluation &
technical
assessment

8. Automated Bearing Assembly Machine
Shaft Loading
Shaft insertion on fixture by tilting it 90 deg
Shaft Gauging
Sleeve Gauging & sleeve insertion on shaft
Continued …..11 October 2013 8
Design Conceptualization

9. Auto Ball Selection & feeding
Ball Cage pick up & fixing
Roller Cage InsertionBearing Assembly pick up & placing for
clearance measurement
Continued …..
Automated Bearing Assembly Machine
11 October 2013 9
Design Conceptualization

10. Grease Filling
WeighingUnloading on
OK/NOT OK bin
Visual Inspection
Antirust Application &
Packaging
Spinning
Manual Seal
insertion
Auto seal fixing
Automatic Assembly - Features
Automated Bearing Assembly Machine
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Design Conceptualization

11. Automated Bearing Assembly – Concepts & Error Proofing
Automatic Assembly - Features
•Auto gauging through LVDT probes & auto selection of correct
number and size of balls through PLC logics.Gauging & Ball Selection
•Correct orientation of ball cage & roller cage assembly through
orientation fixture.Cage Orientation
•Correct numbers of rollers which are weighed before assembly &
inter-linked to rejection bin.Rollers
•100% radial clearance measurement & NG bearings after this
measurement are inter- linked to rejection bin thru PLC.Clearance Measurement
•Volumetric dispensing for grease, thus better control.Grease Dispensing
•Final weighing to detect any miss-out component and rejection is
interlinked to rejection bin.Weighing
•All sub-operations are performed sequentially & interlinked
through in-built poka yoke’s at each stage.Poka-Yoke
•Operator safety is also considered while designing this machineSafety
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12. Our Innovation – Automated Bearing Assembly Machine
Salient Features:-
• Bearing assembly within close tolerances
• Poka Yoke at each assembly station
• Segregation of NG parts at each assembly station
• Higher Reliability
• Productivity improvement by 3times11 October 2013 12

13. Automated Bearing Assembly Machine - Benefits
•Automated controls at each stage & linkage of all sub-assembly operations thru Programmable Logic
Controls.
•Error proofing at each stage for defect prevention.
•Productivity Improvement from 1500 to 4000 per day.
•Effective space utilisation i.e. 50% space saving as compared to conventional assembly machine.
•Auto segregation of Ok & Not ok products at different stages.
•Saving of 12 man days per day.
•Reduced Operator fatigue.
•Manual intervention eliminated.
•This idea gave us commanding position over the competitors, which helped to open the doors of potential
OEM customers like Ford, Renault, Suzuki, Fiat, PSA, Hyundai, Pierburg, Sogefi, Magna etc
•Capacity enhanced by 4000 pcs / day
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14. PATENT APPLICATION
The First Ever Patent Application From Ring Plus Aqua Ltd For
Automated Assembly Machine For Integral Shaft Bearings
11 October 2013 14
Complete patent application filed on 29th
October 2012 and is published in the
weekly journal of “India Patent Office on
30th November’2012”.
No infringement objection received during
the initial six months also as of Oct’2013.
“Now it is under process for granting
patent.”

15. Thank You!
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