According to the IBEF , the Indian economy is expected to grow at rising rates of 6.7% and 7.2% in the years 2017-18 and 2018-19 respectively. Changes to lifestyles, an increase in awareness, and increased ease of access are attributed as key growth drivers, especially in the fast-moving consumer goods sector. The improvement in India’s economic scenario has also led to an increase in consumption, causing a greater need for packaging and labels.
Founded in 1890, in Switzerland, Bobst is a leading supplier of packaging and label equipment and services to manufacturers in the folding carton, corrugated board, and flexible materials industries. With more than 120 years of experience, Bobst has developed into a brand that is synonymous with quality and high-performance machinery and services. In 1995, the Group established its India office, which began as a service center — offering on-site and remote assistance, technical expertise, and solutions to clients with existing machines. In 2004, Bobst India began manufacturing machinery for the packaging industry in its 23-acre plant, both for export and domestic clients.
THE NEED FOR GREATER PRECISION AND EFFICIENCY
When Bobst India first started producing machinery, it became necessary to measure a large variety of manufactured parts. This was to ensure that its solutions — from stand-alone machines to fully integrated, tailor-made lines — each offered the precise quality and high performance that packaging manufacturers required. The size of these parts ranged from 0.5m to 10m long, and included sheet metal parts that the company machined and fabricated.
Intricate machine parts require high precision measurement of critical dimensions to ensure quality performance.
Bobst India initially adopted traditional measurement methods with hand tools like the vernier calipers. Such measurement methods were time-consuming, considering the increasing complexity of the parts and the multiple setups required to measure all of the critical dimensions. However, apart from being arduous, these traditional methods proved to be inaccurate, often producing varying results and added to the cost of labor. In addition, the team was unable to accurately measure certain crucial or oversized parts with such methods.
REAPING THE BENEFITS OF FARO’S MEASUREMENT SOLUTIONS
A better solution was needed, one that could answer both Bobst India’s increasing need for quality and its ever-present need for time. The company decided to purchase the FARO Platinum Arm in 2006 — two years after its manufacturing facilities began operations.
The FaroArm is an articulated arm — one of the most common portable CMM devices available in the market — equipped with several rotating joints, which allows it to determine and record the location of a probe in 3D space, and to report the results through software. Ergonomically designed and resembling the form of a human arm, the FaroArms detects the position of a probe with the proprietary glass grating discs (also called encoders) in each joint, and these encoders calculate the probe’s position as the arm moves freely throughout its workspace.
The flexibility and accuracy of the FaroArm allowed Bobst India to perform inspections with much greater accuracy and repeatability, at a fraction of the time previously spent. At the same time, the solution also proved to be effective for the inspection of smaller components. But with the growth of the business in India, Bobst India needed another solution to support its inspection of even larger, critical parts for the machinery it was producing, which measure up to 25 m in size.
“We were looking for an instrument that could cater to larger measurement volumes,” explains Mr. Abhay Kulkarni, Head Quality, Bobst India. “The surface plate that we had been relying on was unable to support our needs any longer. Moreover, we wanted a portable device that we could deploy anywhere on the shop floor, as this would make the inspection process a lot more convenient.”
Due to their positive experience with the FaroArm, Bobst India approached FARO for an additional measurement solution for help. The FARO Vantage Laser Tracker was exactly what Bobst India required to resolve this new challenge. With the FARO Laser Tracker’s longer working range of up to 30 m and high accuracy levels of 0.049 mm volumetric accuracy at 10 m, Bobst India could now increase the efficiency of its development processes for new projects and better ensure the quality of its products. This was especially important for the large parts, such as the beam and saber, which run up to 10 m in length and are crucial for its machines.
The Bobst India staff utilizes the FARO Vantage Laser Tracker for accurate inspection.
Another key advantage offered by the FARO Vantage Laser Tracker is its extreme portability, which allows the user to bring it along to any location. Mr. Kulkarni added, “The compact size of the Laser Tracker made it incredibly easy to move between locations in the shop floor, drastically reducing the manpower required to move the large components.”
RETURN ON INVESTMENT
Since implementing FARO’s measurement solutions, Bobst India has observed several positive outcomes. For one, the team is showing better levels of efficiency and productivity, given the time-savings from the reduced time spent on parts inspection and on moving large parts around the shop floor.
In addition, Bobst India’s investment in FARO’s measurement solutions yielded positive outcomes beyond just the quality of its machines. Equipped with FARO’s solutions, Bobst India was able to develop and produce parts, which it had previously imported, within a short span of 6 months. These manufactured parts were subsequently reviewed by the R&D team and concluded that the quality of these parts is at par with Imported ones.
“We’re satisfied with the measurement solutions that we’ve purchased from FARO,” concludes Mr. Kulkarni. “These solutions have been very helpful in the various types of inspection that we do, and it prevents issues from arising later in the machine assembly process. FARO’s products have proved to be accurate and reliable, and we’ll definitely consider expanding the use of FARO’s products when the need arises in the future.”
About Bobst India Pvt. Ltd.
BOBST is one of the world’s leading suppliers of equipment and services to packaging and label manufacturers in the folding carton, corrugated board, and flexible materials industries. Founded in 1890 by Joseph Bobst in Lausanne, Switzerland, BOBST has a presence in more than 50 countries, runs 14 production facilities in 8 countries, and employs close to 5,400 people around the world. With more than 120 years’ specialist experience, BOBST provides the machinery, solutions and technical expertise to ensure its customers can drive quality, performance, and productivity in their packaging operations.
Established in 1995, Bobst India began as a service center — offering on-site and remote assistance, technical expertise, and solutions to clients with existing machines. In 2004, Bobst India began manufacturing machinery for the packaging industry, both for export and domestic clients.
For more information, please visit www.bobst.com/inen
