Case Study: ABCO Automation Systems

ABCO Automation, Inc. is not a typical custom machine builder as the company builds machines for a vast amount of industries instead of focusing on a select number of industries. “We have an extremely diversified customer base, which is crucial to our success,” explained Brad Kemmerer, President of ABCO Automation. Kemmerer noted that by servicing customers from all types of industries ABCO is less susceptible to the economic fluctuations that can affect a single industry. “If an industry goes into an economic slump this does not affect ABCO because we have a diversified customer portfolio covering many industries,” noted Kemmerer. With this type of business model ABCO is positioned to face a vast amount of competition as well.

The MISUMI component list for this machine
includes linear shafts, flanged linear bushings,
strut clamps, locating pins, locating bushings,
belts, bearings, plates, bolts and rollers.

As Kemmerer said “The other side to a diversified customer portfolio is that you face a lot of competition which puts a lot of cost, time and performance pressures on us.” This creates a situation where ABCO heavily relies on its innovations and its supplier’s innovations to remain cost and time competitive in the extremely aggressive custom machine building market.

To not only compete but grow in such a market requires that ABCO develop a long term and mutually beneficial relationship with its customers. To achieve this objective ABCO developed a mission to provide customers with a single source for innovative solutions, automation services and manufacturing support that are valued contributions to the customer’s success. In addition, ABCO prides itself in exceeding expectations for quality, execution and service. Kemmerer simply explained “In this business we see competitors come and go all the time so it’s either you dedicate yourself to your customers and put them first or you simply disappear.”

“For a project of this size if we would have needed
to draw and machine all the mechanical components,
it could have increased the tooling costs by 5 times,”
estimated Senior Mechanical Engineer, Dan Pescariu.

從這個購買,ABCO開始調查custom components they could replace with MISUMI configurable components. “We found that by reducing the amount of custom components per machine we are able to not only save time and money but are also able to produce machines that are more modular and offer better performance,” explained Senior Mechanical Engineer, Dan Pescariu. As ABCO increased its use of configurable components benefits from decreasing its use of custom components was having an impact on various projects. “When we first started doing business with MISUMI I was immediately impressed with the precision that goes into every component and the fact that what you configure is what you get,” said Pescariu. ABCO has experienced problems in the past with custom components where no two components are the same. As Pescariu explained when dealing with custom components it’s common to get a one of a kind component that can’t be copied exact again, where with configurable components it’s easy to configure a component to the exact specifications needed and repeatedly order that component whenever you need it simply by specifying the part number. As a result, machine component repeatability and modularity only increases.

All total each packaging machine contained
approximately 10,000 components. Out of the
approximate 10,000 components, around
3,000 were MISUMI components.

最近,這是一個決定性因素在選擇MISUMI as a supplier for the design and build of several high speed, high performance packaging machines. “As is typical in this business we were under an extremely tight deadline and also knew that we would have to duplicate this machine and build the exact machine several times for this customer,” explained Pescariu. ABCO Sales Engineer Paul Mellander further explained that in the custom machine business duplicating machines can be a huge issue to overcome, especially when dealing with custom components. This is why Pescariu immediately began studying the MISUMI catalog so he could better understand how many configurable components ABCO could use on these machines. “Unlike custom components, MISUMI configurable components offer native CAD files that can be downloaded from their web site as well as short lead-times, published prices and part numbers for every configured component, which can easily be added to the bill of material,” noted Pescariu. Mellander then added that it’s these features that take the guess work out of the design and build, especially since the native CAD files save drawing time for the engineers and with no minimum ordering quantity and no set-up charges along with a 99.95% on-time delivery rating on all its products MISUMI offers a complete package for its customers. “The deadline for the design and build of these packaging machines was just a couple months, but once I knew that we were using MISUMI as a supplier I felt more comfortable committing to such a tight deadline with the customer,” explained Mellander.

“Unlike custom components, MISUMI configurable
components offer native CAD files that can be
downloaded from their web site as well as short
lead-times, published prices and part numbers for
every configured component, which can easily be
added to the bill of material,” noted
Senior Mechanical Engineer, Dan Pescariu.

With the speed and performance that was needed for these packaging machines, the design and build had to be flawless. As Pescariu explained when dealing with multi-axis machines with high speed and high performance requirements you simply can’t afford design compromises and you need high precision components. As mentioned earlier, Pescariu is extremely impressed with the quality and precision of MISUMI configurable components, which made him comfortable with using MISUMI for this project. The MISUMI component list for this machine included linear shafts, flanged linear bushings, strut clamps, locating pins, locating bushings, belts, bearings, plates, bolts and rollers. By using configurable components instead of custom Pescariu found that he was able to lessen the total component count of the machine. According to Pescariu reducing component count proved to be a major benefit as the machine design and build was quickly executed because the machine components fit together so well and the testing stage was shortened as well. Additionally, the machine was easier to duplicate and potential long-term benefits could include lower maintenance and less down-time.

According to ABCO President Brad Kemmerer
expects his engineers to meet their design and
建立預算,並鼓勵它們beat
their budgets on a consistent basis.

Naturally another benefit from reducing component count comes in the form of cost savings. ABCO President Brad Kemmerer expects his engineers to meet their design and build budgets and encourages them to beat this budget on a consistent basis. “We were able to come in under budget for the design and build of these packaging machines and I can honestly say this is due to using as many MISUMI components as we could on the machine,” stated Pescariu. All total each packaging machine contained approximately 10,000 components. Out of the approximate 10,000 components, around 3,000 were MISUMI components. “Making 1/3 of the machine from MISUMI played a huge role in the success of this project,” stated Pescariu. He then further explained that in the past ABCO would have had to draw and machine many of these components. “For a project of this size if we would have needed to draw and machine all the mechanical components, it could have increased the tooling costs by 5 times,” estimated Pescariu. Sales Engineer Paul Mellander further explained that before MISUMI with a project this large it was easy for ABCO to max-out the capacity of all the local machine shops trying to get the custom components produced. However, now by replacing the custom components with configurable components this is no longer an issue. “Coming in under budget for a project of this size is huge for us and our customer and makes us understand the importance of the configurable component,” noted Mellander.