Simon & Membrez SA.
Faced with pressing demands for rationalisation and automation Simon & Membrez SA., specialist sub-contractors to the watchmaking industry, decided to modify and boost production by introducing high performance palletisation systems.
The highly-effective palletisation system from System 3R
Simon & Membrez manufacture high quality watchcase bodies in steel, gold, titanium and platinum, supplying the world’s most prestigious watchmakers. Based in Courtetelle in the Jura region of France, this family business employs 120 people and operates in conjunction with its smaller subsidiary, Termiboites SA of Courtemaîche, who specialise in polishing.
Using Delcam’s Pro-Engineer software, multiple designs are produced in partnership with their watchmaking customers as well as the design of production tools such as punches and stamping dies.
The most prestigious watchcase bodies pass through the hands of these robots.
The stamping and turning workshops already had equipment for the automated loading and unloading of workpieces and the milling department was their next focus in their productivity improvement programme.
The introduction of System 3R’s palletisation system on their milling machines has made an enormous impact in a short space of time, where productivity gains have made a significant impact on the bottom-line.
But in order to maximise the benefits obtained from this system Patrick Poulle, Manufacturing Director, realised that they also needed to change the way their employees worked and he uniquely used video to advance this process. By filming how each production batch was prepared and loaded onto their machines they showed, in slow motion, the time spent and the actual down-time of each machine during this procedure. They thus identified and then achieved the elimination of costly non-productive time by standardising on one clamping and palletisation system for holding workpieces in the milling machines
Manufacturing Director, Patrick Poulle,who has been the enthusiastic advocate of the System 3R palletisation and the principal agent for change - with the full support of his colleagues on the board.
Before the use of System 3R palletisation, it required no less than a full day’s work by one man (and about 20 tools) before a new batch of workpieces could be loaded. Now, once all the stages of the changeover had been analysed, it takes less than 10 minutes for a new arrangement and a new schedule to be put in place.
This was certainly a visionary investment by the head of the company, Philippe Membrez, which has paid off handsomely!
System 3R palletisation also facilitates rapid changeover of production when a machine tool needs maintenance or repair, as it now becomes possible to change machines and production with set-up times of less than 10 minutes. “We are delighted that this organisational change only took 6 months - with no break in production at all. The palletisation system has now been installed on 15 production machines and 2 machines in the mechanical workshop,” said Patrick Poulle.
printer friendly version