trends in automation

Germany

Twice in a row

Bosch distinguishes Festo as a preferred supplier

Quality and reliability pay off. Once again, the Bosch Group

has honoured Festo with Preferred Supplier status for

pneumatics for 2016. During a visit to the Festo stand by a

delegation of 16 international lead buyers, Malte Ihlenfeld,

Director Corporate Sector Purchasing and Logistics at Bosch,

handed the certificate over to Festo’s former Chairman of the

Management Board, Dr. Claus Jessen, and Member of the

Management Board, Sales, Dr. Ansgar Kriwet. “Our suppliers

are an important success factor. In particular the global focus

and capacity for innovation of a supplier are of great import-

ance to the Bosch Group,” said Ihlenfeld. “We’ve been

especially impressed with the way that Festo is dealing with

major automation technology issues such as Industry 4.0 and

SupraMotion. The software tools and configuration solutions

which help reduce the workload for our purchasing, logistics

and engineering processes are also extremely promising.”

The Preferred Supplier status is part of Bosch’s supplier man-

agement programme and is awarded each year. The preferred

supplier status is valid worldwide for all Bosch plants and all

business divisions of this high-tech company and the world’s

largest supplier to the automotive industry.

Germany/International

Easier automotive assembly:

the clip fix tool AGTC reduces

ergonomic strain on finger and hand joints.

Clip and plug connectors are increasingly replacing conventional

screw connections in assembly tasks as they reduce production

times. These clips, normally in the form of expanding nuts and

rivets, are used in vehicle construction to secure covers and hold

cables in place. They are inserted either by hand or using a manual

press-in tool – a process that exerts significant strain on the hands

of employees. The thumbs and the heels of the hand can be

exposed to press-in forces of around 100 newtons, several hundred

times per shift.

This led Festo together with Volkswagen AG to develop the clip

fix tool AGTC: to relieve the strain on employees during assembly,

and to create a tool that would be easy to operate. The clip fix tool

can also be used with a wide variety of clips. Inside the clip fix tool

is a pneumatic drive based on the round cylinder DSNU, which

generates a pulse when the tool is activated. The pulse is effort-

lessly transferred via the AGTC's head piece and the clip is pressed

into the opening. The tool is then available again very quickly for

the next clip. This significantly reduces the amount of force that is

exerted on the body. In addition, the work can be done with greater

precision and repetition accuracy than with manual operation.

www.festo.com/automobil

An ergonomic model of success

Clip fix tool makes automotive assembly easier

Hannover Messe 2016:

Malte Ihlenfeld, Director Corporate Sector Purchasing

and Logistics at the Bosch Group (centre) hands over the certificate for preferred

supplier status in 2016 to Festo’s former Chairman of the Management Board,

Dr. Claus Jessen (right). Left in photo Dr. Ansgar Kriwet, Member of the

Management Board, Sales, at Festo.