A novel concept of Bowden cables flexible and full-automated manufacturing process improving quality and productivity

摘要

The automotive industry is one of the most demanding sectors of the global market. The level of competitiveness in the sector generates a constant need for improvement in efficiency, productivity and quality, in order to meet customer’s requirements. In this sense, the need to automate processes arises, investing more and more in dedicated or flexible systems, but increasingly relying less on the manpower factor and associated variability, both in terms of cost and quality.This work aimed to develop a new equipment concept for the manufacture of automobile Bowden cables, based on a concept currently in operation. Thus, a flexible equipment was developed, with several changes and improvements implemented, including new operations, and increasing the level of automation of the system. Through the new developed concept, there is less dependence on manpower factor and associated variability, there is an increase in the quality of the product and operator work, a reduction in cycle times (25%) and an increase in productivity.