Product category:
Hydraulics and Pneumatics
News Release from: Bosch Rexroth | Subject: Aqualisa Products
Edited by the Processingtalk Editorial
Team on 12 February 2008
Bosch Rexroth supports success in power
showers!
Rexroth products used in the workstations designed by MG Automation for new Aqualisa Products power shower production facilities were chosen based on the build quality and flexibility resulting
Aqualisa Products Limited, the UK's most successful developer and manufacturer of power showers, has seen demand for its products grow dramatically in recent years, and the company now has an annual turnover in excess of GBP40 million Success, however, brings its own challenges, and a little over a year ago, Aqualisa found that its existing manufacturing facilities were fully committed, and that they provided virtually no scope for further growth
This article was originally published on Processingtalk on 15 May 2006 at 8.00am (UK)
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At this point, the decision was taken to completely re-equip the Aqualisa manufacturing plant in Westerham, Kent.
The Aqualisa team working on the project decided on an approach that would divide the factory operations into nine manufacturing cells.
It then set about researching the market to find a suitable supplier for the equipment to be used in the cells.
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Ultimately, the decision came down to two suppliers, one of which was MG Automation, a specialist in the design, manufacture and installation of ergonomic cellular workstations.
The solution proposed by MG Automation was based on products from Rexroth, while the other contender used alternative products.
To help in making the final decision, both potential vendors were invited to supply a sample workstation.
"Two things were obvious immediately," said Aqualisa Manufacturing Manager, Richard Shaw.
"The first was that the MG Automation price for the workstation was marginally more than that of the competitor.
The second was that the Rexroth products used in the MG Automation workstation were of a considerably higher standard, resulting in a much better overall build quality.
It didn't take us long to decide that the extra cost of the MG Automation solution was fully justified, as it would be more than offset by the increased durability and flexibility of the workstations.
Once we started the project, we were also very impressed by the care with which the engineers from MG Automation analysed our requirements.
They looked closely at each individual cell, and went to a lot of trouble to ensure that the final design would be ergonomic and flexible, and that it would help us to maximise productivity".
The workstations produced and supplied by MG Automation for the Aqualisa project make extensive use of Rexroth modular MPS (manual production system) products, including material feed systems, trolleys, ergonomic workbenches, lighting and Kanban racks.
These products are complemented by framework and other structures which MG Automation constructed from Rexroth MGE aluminium profile rails.
"Using the Bosch Rexroth modular products gave us much greater flexibility than the alternative of fabricating the equipment for the cells from steel," said Steve MacNeill, a director of MG Automation.
"In addition, the design of the Rexroth products makes it easy to produce solutions with optimised ergonomics and, of course, the products themselves are always of superb quality".
Because of the huge demand for its showers, Aqualisa had one very special requirement relating to the project: the company could not afford to lose even a single day's production, so disruption during the factory refitting work had to be kept to an absolute minimum.
To address this requirement, MG Automation and Aqualisa developed a plan for replacing one cell at a time.
The success of the plan depended, however, on the new equipment being delivered on the exact day scheduled, and on it working first time after installation.
"All in all the project took under eight months" said Richard Shaw: "The cells were fully tested by MG Automation before despatch which meant that, on arrival at our factory, all that was necessary was to link up the air and power connections.
Once again, this approach worked without a single hitch".
The MG Automation success in achieving all of the project deadlines was underpinned by the service the company received from Bosch Rexroth, which was able to supply all of the necessary components exactly when needed on a call-off basis.
The right-first-time operation of the cells after delivery also confirms the quality and reliability of the Rexroth products used.
Soon after the completion of the work of re-equipping its factory with manufacturing cells based on Rexroth products, Aqualisa is already reporting productivity and efficiency gains of around 20%.
Other benefits include better utilisation of available factory floor space, increased flexibility to deal with changes in manufacturing requirements, and scope for expansion to deal with future growth in the Aqualisa business.
"We're delighted with the results we're getting from our 'new' factory," said Richard Shaw: "And we're delighted with the support and service we received both from MG Automation and Bosch Rexroth at every stage of the project.
Our new manufacturing cells are meeting or even exceeding our expectations in every respect, and we're more than satisfied that spending a little extra on the Bosch Rexroth solution was an excellent decision".
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