No Losses To Loose Screws

Fabricator Emplas has introduced a new screw-counting system across its sash and frame lines as it continues to engineer out errors on the shop floor.

The company has also put in place camera-based verification on its fire door production line as it sees this as an essential in the start of a Golden Thread approach to these life-saving products.

Screwing up windows

“Can anyone guess how many ways there are to mess up a window in a factory environment? It’s 2,000 ways we have discovered so far,” said Nigel Scott, the senior operations manager, Emplas.

To tackle one of the causes, Emplas has deployed an intelligent screw-driving system which counts every fixing as it is installed, while also monitoring torque to ensure each screw is correctly seated.

“We have a really fancy, expensive screwdriver, if you like and there are a number of them,” said Scott. It counts the number of screws that go into a sash or into a frame. If that hasn’t counted the right number of screws, it doesn’t allow that window to be scanned forward.”

Integrated into the company’s Operating System, the technology links each stage of manufacture to individual operators and defined quality checks. If something isn’t right, the product simply doesn’t move.

Emplas Operating System

The Emplas Operating System adds an additional layer of safety assurance, ensuring that critical components such as hinges are fixed correctly and consistently.

Scott is clear that the aim is not to catch people out. It is there to stop problems reaching site. He said: “I don’t believe anyone comes to work to do a bad job. Unless they are told that they’ve done something wrong, they keep making that mistake. We want to prevent that from happening.”

Fire doorsets

The same thinking is being applied to Emplas’ Fire Doorset, where the consequences of a missed step are significantly higher.

“Intumescent strips go around the locks and sit in the letterboxes. If you miss it, it will fail. If you miss it, the fire or smoke will come through, and it will fail to do its primary job.”

To control that risk, Emplas has installed a dedicated fire door line with camera-based verification.

Scott said: “Once we put all the intumescent around the product, it will pick up whether it’s present or not. If it stays green, everything’s okay. If it’s red, you cannot move on to the next process. It won’t allow you to scan that product and dispatch it.”

The Fire Doorset has also undergone independent furnace testing at temperatures of around 960°C, significantly exceeding its FD30 requirement.

Picture: Quality control is at the top of Emplas’ priority list to make sure nothing leaves is factory with any error that could cause a customer problems down the line.

For more information or to book a factory tour, call Emplas on t. 01933 674880 or email sales@emplas.co.uk

www.emplas.co.uk