Cyber Tester Uses a CTO-Compatible Controller
- Customer
- Iwasaki Electric Mfg. Co., Ltd.
- Industry
- Manufacturing
- Contec products
- CX-100n cTEST controller
- Goals
- Space saving, Cost savings
Iwasaki Electric’s Cyber Tester automatically inspects wire harnesses and learns from defect data. A dedicated controller co-developed with Contec cut implementation cost nearly in half.
Overview
Iwasaki Electric Mfg. Co., Ltd., headquartered in Sasayama, Hyogo, has made wire harnesses for 40 years. Harnesses bundle the wires that carry power and signals inside machines such as industrial robots and automobiles. To raise quality, the company developed Cyber Tester, a computer-based automatic harness inspection device, and also introduced it at its Vietnam plant, operating since 2002.
Challenge
More inspections meant more check items, time and cost, and defect feedback was slow: correction forms, cause analysis and countermeasures could take one week to one month to reach the line, by which time they could be out of date. At the Vietnam plant, skilled workers were hard to train on how to respond after a defect.
Solution
Deployed from 2006, Cyber Tester checks each harness against a reference table of pin connections and automatically detects miswiring, shorts and disconnections. It reports the location and required repair, stores every result, and once enough data accumulates, warns workers where a product is likely to fail. The software has been improved through more than 100 updates based on worker suggestions.
Earlier testers used multiple Contec digital I/O boards in a commercial PC. In October 2009, Iwasaki Electric and Contec co-developed a dedicated multi-signal I/O controller based on the CX-100n cTEST, with 256 digital inputs and 256 digital outputs, in a compact W182 × D456.5 × H35 mm unit.
Results
Implementation cost was nearly half that of the earlier setup, and defect rates dropped sharply from 2008 onward; the Vietnam plant kept an especially high quality level. Satoshi Kawanishi, Office Manager, QA Office, recalls first working with Contec about 30 years ago and says quality is built into the manufacturing process by eliminating human error as much as possible.
Contec products used
Originally published by Contec Co., Ltd. at contec.com.