Jason Finishing Group, a subsidiary of Milwaukee-based seating, acoustics, components and finishing manufacturer Jason Inc., has installed robotic cell laboratories at its Burgwald, Germany and Richmond, Indiana locations to test the lifespan of its products and product design modifications.
Jason Finishing makes industrial abrasives. The products being tested by the robotic cells include technical brushes, abrasives, polishing tools and compounds.
The robotic cell has a large robot arm that tests customer products, like complex cylinder heads, injection pumps and aircraft engines, said Dr. Florestan von Boxberg, president of Jason Finishing Group.
“Through these tests we simulate the process at the customer’s site and can thus give them detailed recommendations regarding the proper use of brushes or polishing tools for surface finishing purposes,” he said. “We can simultaneously run performance tests on our own products 24/7, which provide us with a much more accurate expectation of lifetime, durability, performance and aggressiveness.”
Robotic cells are more effective in terms of precision, speed, repeatability and duration than the testing previously performed manually, von Boxberg said. Some highly complex customer products can only be tested by a machine like this one.
The labs, which were introduced in August, have allowed Jason Finishing to become more integrated in customers’ processes.
“No position has been eliminated,” he said. “Rather, our intention has been to improve quality and become a ‘solutions provider’ rather than a ‘product manufacturer.'”
