Innovative engineering identifies and eliminates a quality problem, improving the overall system.

Due to our acknowledged success in transferring troubled programs, Multicraft International was invited to review a magnetic assembly production line in Mexico. The line produced a critical magnetic component on a major automobile brand’s hemi engine. It was experiencing quality issues due to chipped magnets.

The assembly cell involved an ultrasonic weld station, which secured the magnet to a plastic retainer. We determined that the root cause of the chipped magnets was the automatic off-loading method of this 4-cavity station, which used compressed air to blow the magnet assemblies off their fixtures, where they would fall uncontrolled into a pan below.

Our engineering team identified that the damage to the magnet occurred as they hit each other during the fall and subsequent contact with the pan.

Multicraft International‘s innovative engineering solution was to create a tube that isolated the magnets during the compressed air blow-off. We then coupled the isolation tubes with a track system utilizing a vacuum to transfer and nest the magnets safely together, successfully eliminating the problem.