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 gadgets for the Americas and Asia. With 115 completely different PCB variants operating via manufacturing, automation is important to keep up throughput and high quality.
However one important step remained handbook: 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 yr.
Outcomes at a look
- 33% enhance in PCBs examined inside one yr
- 115 PCB variants dealt with with one adaptive gripper
- 100% PCB check protection maintained
- Actual-time cobot KPI monitoring applied
- Second cobot justified utilizing manufacturing information
Maintain studying for the complete story…
The problem: handbook PCB testing grew to become a bottleneck
“At Sennheiser, we check all the pieces 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 sorts and rising manufacturing demand, handbook dealing with restricted scalability. The workforce wanted an answer that would:
- Deal with frequent half changeovers
- Adapt to completely different PCB sizes and type components
- Preserve constant high quality
- Combine shortly with out disrupting manufacturing
The answer: versatile gripping and collaborative automation
Check Engineer Roger Case started exploring automation choices. The breakthrough got here with Robotiq’s 2F-85 Adaptive Gripper.
“Robotiq had a singular answer: a dependable gripper that may handle half changeovers shortly, which was vital for our high-mix, high-volume manufacturing. Plus, its broad stroke match the shape issue of the PCBs we have been .”
Inside weeks, the workforce 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 consequence was a repeatable, constant testing cycle — with out handbook intervention.
Measuring efficiency with Robotiq Insights
From the start, Sennheiser handled their cobot like a brand new workforce member. They even named it ART (Automated Robotic Crew member).
However efficiency wanted to be measurable.
“Since we at all times consider how new staff are performing, I informed our managers we should always do the identical for ART,” says Case.
To trace KPIs, the workforce linked the robotic to Robotiq Insights, a web-based monitoring software.
Insights shortly grew to become a store ground management software utilized by a number of teams:
- Managers use dashboards to visualise manufacturing efficiency
- Engineers obtain day by 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 happening,” says Nery.
When the robotic stops, the workforce is aware of instantly — and may react shortly. That visibility reworked automation from a black field right into a controllable, optimizable course of.
33% extra PCBs examined with larger consistency
After one yr, the numbers have been clear.
“With ART1, we noticed a rise of round 33% within the variety of PCBs examined over a yr,” says Case. “And the standard was larger as a result of the dealing with was extra constant.”
The manufacturing information collected via Insights helped justify the acquisition of a second cobot.
As we speak, 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 function on the store ground
Automation didn’t get rid of jobs; it elevated them.
Marcella Segovia beforehand carried out the repetitive handbook testing course of. As we speak, she runs the robotic testing operation.
She:
- Prepares trays
- Prioritizes job orders
- Modifications robotic packages for various PCB sorts
- 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 fearful of the robots at first, however I actually wished 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 handbook testing grew to become a higher-value technical function on the middle of manufacturing.
The larger image: scaling with information, not assumptions
Sennheiser didn’t automate all the pieces 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 enlargement.
If PCB testing is limiting your throughput, the chance will not be in including labor — however in eradicating the bottleneck with versatile automation and measurable efficiency.
