At Sennheiser Manufacturing USA in Albuquerque, precision is non-negotiable.
Each week, the power assembles 30,000 printed circuit boards (PCBs) that energy 1,500 skilled audio units for the Americas and Asia. With 115 completely different PCB variants operating by manufacturing, automation is crucial to take care of throughput and high quality.
However one vital step remained guide: 100% PCB testing.
As manufacturing elevated, testing grew to become a bottleneck.
Right here’s how Sennheiser eliminated that bottleneck and elevated the variety of PCBs examined by 33% in a single 12 months.
Outcomes at a look
- 33% improve in PCBs examined inside one 12 months
- 115 PCB variants dealt with with one adaptive gripper
- 100% PCB check protection maintained
- Actual-time cobot KPI monitoring carried out
- Second cobot justified utilizing manufacturing information
Maintain studying for the complete story…
The problem: guide PCB testing grew to become a bottleneck
“At Sennheiser, we check the whole lot 100%,” explains Manufacturing Supervisor Steven Nery.
The method was easy however repetitive:
- An operator locations a PCB into the tester
- Closes the fixture
- Waits for the check cycle
- Removes the board
- Hundreds the following one
Repeat for eight hours.
With 115 PCB varieties and rising manufacturing demand, guide dealing with restricted scalability. The group wanted an answer that might:
- Deal with frequent half changeovers
- Adapt to completely different PCB sizes and kind elements
- Keep constant high quality
- Combine rapidly with out disrupting manufacturing
The answer: versatile gripping and collaborative automation
Take a look at Engineer Roger Case started exploring automation choices. The breakthrough got here with Robotiq’s 2F-85 Adaptive Gripper.
“Robotiq had a singular resolution: a dependable gripper that may handle half changeovers rapidly, which was essential for our high-mix, high-volume manufacturing. Plus, its large stroke match the shape issue of the PCBs we have been .”
Inside weeks, the group deployed a Common Robots UR5 cobot outfitted with the 2F-85.
The automated workflow:
- The robotic picks up a PCB with the gripper
- Strikes it to a scanner to validate half ID
- Hundreds it into the tester
- The tester alerts begin
- After testing, the system sends a move/fail message
- The robotic kinds the PCB into the suitable bin
The end result was a repeatable, constant testing cycle — with out guide intervention.
Measuring efficiency with Robotiq Insights
From the start, Sennheiser handled their cobot like a brand new group member. They even named it ART (Automated Robotic Workforce member).
However efficiency wanted to be measurable.
“Since we at all times consider how new staff are performing, I informed our managers we must always do the identical for ART,” says Case.
To trace KPIs, the group related the robotic to Robotiq Insights, a web-based monitoring utility.
Insights rapidly grew to become a store ground management instrument utilized by a number of teams:
- Managers use dashboards to visualise manufacturing efficiency
- Engineers obtain each day experiences and cease alerts
- Operators obtain notifications when trays want reloading
“I exploit Insights to speak data to non-engineering folks, as a result of I can simply level to the dashboard and clarify what’s occurring,” says Nery.
When the robotic stops, the group is aware of instantly — and might react rapidly. That visibility reworked automation from a black field right into a controllable, optimizable course of.
33% extra PCBs examined with greater consistency
After one 12 months, the numbers have been clear.
“With ART1, we noticed a rise of round 33% within the variety of PCBs examined over a 12 months,” says Case. “And the standard was greater as a result of the dealing with was extra constant.”
The manufacturing information collected by Insights helped justify the acquisition of a second cobot.
Right this moment, ART2 (a UR5e) operates alongside ART1, and the manufacturing unit is aiming to double PCB testing capability.
The primary deployment eliminated a bottleneck. The second scaled a confirmed system.
A brand new position on the store ground
Automation didn’t get rid of jobs; it elevated them.
Marcella Segovia beforehand carried out the repetitive guide testing course of. Right this moment, she runs the robotic testing operation.
She:
- Prepares trays
- Prioritizes job orders
- Modifications robotic applications for various PCB varieties
- Screens manufacturing
Insights sends her a textual content message when trays are empty so she is aware of when to reload.
“I used to be just a little petrified of the robots at first, however I actually needed to learn to run them,” she says. “They’re quick, however I can sustain — and it’s nice how a lot we’ve elevated our numbers.”
Repetitive guide testing grew to become a higher-value technical position on the heart of manufacturing.
The larger image: scaling with information, not assumptions
Sennheiser didn’t automate the whole lot directly.
They:
- Recognized a transparent bottleneck
- Deployed a versatile cobot cell
- Measured efficiency
- Used actual manufacturing information to justify scaling
That’s Lean Robotics in motion.
By combining a versatile adaptive gripper, a collaborative robotic, and real-time efficiency monitoring, Sennheiser turned testing right into a aggressive benefit — and constructed a transparent path for future growth.
If PCB testing is limiting your throughput, the chance is probably not in including labor — however in eradicating the bottleneck with versatile automation and measurable efficiency.