ifm produces sensors for Industry 4.0 with assembly solutions from FUJI

Automation and sensor technology specialist implements condition-based maintenance using shop-floor integration

Kelsterbach, March 25, 2022 – The sensor manufacturer ifm electronic gmbh relies on placement machines from FUJI EUROPE CORPORATION GmbH (www.fuji-euro.de) for the production of IO-Link sensors for Industry 4.0. The company is using 14 scalable pick-and-place platforms of the NXT III series for the production of the printed circuit board. They support the smallest parts used in mass production and offer extreme positioning accuracy. Furthermore, they are suitable for condition-based maintenance. For this, ifm uses the GIB shop-floor integration, which is based on real data and records the individual abrasion of tools.

Sensors with IO-Link interface are predestined for requirements in the networked factory. They enable transparency regarding machine data. The sensors feature digital and therefore interference-free transmission of the measured values. In addition, they provide further information to higher-level systems, enabling them to be used for predictive maintenance, for example. They can be used in a variety of ways in production plants and are easy to install.

ifm electronic gmbh offers such intelligent sensors. Founded in 1969, the company develops, produces and sells sensors, controll systems, software and systems for industrial automation worldwide. The group has around 8,100 employees all over the world and serves sectors such as the automotive, food and packaging industries. Machine tool manufacturers are also among its customer base.

Condition-based maintenance avoids over-maintenance

The most important element of an IO-Link sensor is a printed circuit board which enables the communication. Stefan Gessler, head of the maintenance department at ifm, explains: “For the production of the PCBs, we rely on SMD placement machines from FUJI. We are using 14 modules of the NXT III series in our production. They achieve extreme positioning accuracy. The placement heads can also be easily replaced without tools. This enables offline maintenance, i.e. without interrupting ongoing production.”

The FUJI machines represent the basis for the condition-based maintenance of the placement heads introduced at ifm. This was realized by the Shop-Floor-Integration of the software manufacturer GIB. The sensors in the machine measure the placement cycles of the respective head and automatically forward the data to the ERP system. When the maximum number of picks per placement head is reached, the system independently creates a maintenance order and initiates the spare parts provision. ifm can thus carry out more efficient and plannable maintenance and servicing. Downtimes and set-up times are minimized.

Milestone at FUJI EUROPE CORPORATION: Change of Managing Director after 30 years of service

Stefan Janssen, Klaus Gross, Jonas Ernst

Kelsterbach, March 18th, 2022 – Klaus Gross, Managing Director of FUJI EUROPE CORPORATION, is taking his well-deserved retirement on March 31 and will leave the company after 30 years. On April 1, Mr. Stefan Janssen, until now Ass. Managing Director, will succeed him. The long-term corporate goals, first and foremost “Total Customer Satisfaction” – highest customer satisfaction and service – as well as healthy growth and reliability will remain in focus.

30 years ago, Klaus Gross changed from the customer side, then Motorola, to the supplier side in the still freshly founded subsidiary of FUJI. Since then, he has accompanied and guided the company in various positions up to the present day.

Great gratitude

“I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank our customers for their loyalty, faithfulness and extraordinary good cooperation over all these years. Furthermore, I would like to thank our partner companies who have supported us in our success over many years. I would also like to express my warmest thanks to my employees and colleagues. Their hard work and motivation have brought us to where we are today. Just as important is and was the global team spirit with the different cultures in Japan and all other FUJI subsidiaries worldwide. It is a tightly woven network, indeed you could say a multicultural family with a very large feel-good factor and very pleasant and effective communication,” explains Klaus Gross.

Ideal management position

FUJI stands for mastering customer requirements with technically revolutionary solutions, leading quality and outstanding service. “Against this background, Stefan Janssen is the ideal person to lead FUJI EUROPE,” explains Gross. “His many years of experience in international key accounts for automotive customers, as well as being the second man on the management board, will resolutely help us to successfully pursue our strategic goals in the long term,” says Klaus Gross.

Generation change

In place of the Ass. Managing Director is Mr. Jonas Ernst, who has already been with FUJI EUROPE CORPORATION GmbH since 2012 – recently as Export Sales Manager. “With the choice for Jonas Ernst, we will make a generational change, which will certainly blow a fresh wind into our structures, and will also position FUJI securely for the future,” says Klaus Gross.

Farewell to life’s work

After more than a Quarter Century, Mr. Gross’ farewell is not only a milestone for FUJI, but also for Gross himself. “The company has been an important part of my life,” he says, looking back on the last few years. “Letting go now is not easy. And yet I’m also looking forward to the new stage in my life, where many other things are waiting for me.” Gross will leave FUJI on March 31, 2022.

FUJI EUROPE CORPORATION will be exhibiting at the SMTconnect placement solutions for modern industry

FUJI placement systems enhance transparent and automated production – new: fiducial mark camera for inspection of placed parts

Kelsterbach, March 17, 2022 – FUJI EUROPE CORPORATION GmbH (www.fuji-euro.de) (www.fuji-euro.de) will demonstrate various placement solutions for the requirements of increasingly digitalized factories at the “SMTconnect 2022” trade fair from May 10th to 12th in Nuremberg. At Booth 5-430 in Hall 5, the company will be showing, among other things, labor-saving and quality-assuring solutions for assembly processes in smart factories. The goals are: zero placement errors, zero machine stops, autonomous and automatic operation. Visitors will also be able to find out about a new feature of the NXTR smart factory platform: the possibility of inspecting placed parts with a fiducial mark camera.

Solutions for automated, efficient processes – especially for repeated tasks – are key elements in Industry 4.0. FUJI EUROPE CORPORATION GmbH, an internationally active specialist for electronics placement machines, offers various solutions for this purpose, such as the NXTR smart factory platform, which is used for step-by-step automation and digitalization.

The NXTR aims at optimizing production preparation and maintenance processes as well as automating manual placement assembly processes for comprehensive networking and self-optimized production. The NXTR placement solution helps operators free themselves from repetitive tasks – while maximizing quality and productivity. FUJI follows the “3 Zero” strategy: zero placement errors, zero machine operators, zero machine stops. In this way, repetitive processes can be automated with just a few resources and the path to Industry 4.0 can be paved.

Reduce errors and improve traceability with fiducial mark camera

The NXTR “Smart Factory” platform from FUJI has many unique selling points. One of them – and new in the scope of functions – is the possible inspection of the placed parts with a fiducial mark camera. This makes it possible to check the existence, position and polarity of the parts. This feature can reduce the occurrence of defective panels. In addition, traceability can be improved as all images and results are stored after inspection. Industry-wide, this feature is unique to FUJI’s NXTR.

“Solutions for labor saving in production preparation and maintenance processes as well as for automating manual placement assembly processes have become indispensable. For many years, we have therefore already been developing various labor-saving units that provide support in setting up and maintaining a smart factory. The NXTR is predestined for this purpose,” explains Stefan Janssen, General Manager of FUJI EUROPE CORPORATION GmbH, and continues, “In addition, we will be demonstrating further placement solutions at SMTconnect that support the tasks in the industry. We are pleased to be able to meet interested parties again at a trade show and show them examples of how smart manufacturing can work.”

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