Panels & Furniture Asia November/December 2022

FURNITURE MANUFACTURING
“First, we had a lot of chip generation in
upstream processes that could not be
completely removed from machining,
even with very good extraction. Then
it was a matter of cleaning the parts as
close to detection as possible — brushes
and also cleaning fluid were used for
this. The brushes could not be kept
100% clean in ongoing production, and
the liquid did not evaporate optimally
every time. And we already had a
breeding ground for contaminants or
even detect streaks on the workpiece
due to remaining moisture. In our case,
the path to the scanner tended to be a
bit too long, and this could cause dust
to settle again. The system should be
able to detect this in the future. It was
the same with labels. We did not actually
use them. However, it was possible that
parts from the residual board storage
were included in the waste optimisation,
which were given a label for storage. This
label, or even a piece of it, should also
not lead to an error message.”
Eisenkohl added: “The classifier for dirt
detection that we are currently working
on is a lever for all companies to further
improve the accuracy of a ‘real’ error
message in the future. We are already
doing well, but we want to work with
customers like Hali to improve system
performance even more. And experience
shows that most detections are caused
by contamination; large scratches in the
surface are rather rare.”
A scanner also has its limitations. Labels
are a problem, because they can conceal
surface defects. Even high-gloss surfaces
with protective films cannot be detected.
Nevertheless, Hali is satisfied with the
results, as Helfenschneider declared:
“Before we got the inspection system,
we detected about 40% of rejects in the
machine area and 60% of the defects
precisely when the furniture was
assembled. Now, in more than 80% of
the cases, we find the defects already in
the parts production. And this increases
our potential enormously.”
Since the system was installed, the
scanner has already helped to detect
machine problems and minimise them
at an early stage. A bent collet chuck on
the saw has left distinctive marks at a
specific point on the workpiece surface,
and with the error messages and digital
recordings, the problem is found and
eliminated.
DETECTION PERFORMANCE
STATISTICS
The Baumer scanner also helps
with general quality control vis-à-vis
suppliers. Helfenschneider described:
“Even before we got the ColourBrain
Furniture 4.0, there was documentation
of defects to prove that the material
was already of inferior quality upon
delivery. Based on these records, we
even launched a quality offensive in
2017 in the direction of our suppliers.
In general, the quality we receive is
now right. But with the scanner and
the digital recordings, it is now much
easier to create a good ‘defect log’. This
is because Q-Live, a tool in Baumer’s
plant software, allows companies to
obtain comprehensive statistics on
detection performance. While we cannot
necessarily trace a defect back to a
specific wood-based panel, we can at
least trace a batch.”
Helfenschneider also praised the
Baumer scanner’s user-friendliness:
“Maintenance and servicing take up only
a small amount of time. For what the
system does, this part is unproblematic
and easy. We are also able to configure
and set up everything ourselves, so
we do not have to contact Baumer for
every action. In addition, the range of
individual setting options is enormous.”
The easy handling of the system also
refers to the detection of new decors,
as Helfenschneider reported: “There
are already enough possibilities given
on the part of the software. We only
have to ‘categorise’ a decor, whether
it is smooth or textured, light or dark,
plain or patterned. So, any number of
new decors can be added. We could
not afford to train the plant with a new
decor over a long period of time first: If a
customer ordered furniture in a special
decor, which we consequently ordered
from the supplier for the first time, then
we must be able to programme it in and
make it ‘scannable’ within a very short
time so that production ran efficiently.
Alternatively, we could exclude these
parts from detection. But then such a
system would not be worthwhile. We
already wanted to inspect 99.9% of all
parts.”
Eisenkohl elaborated: “There are usually
a maximum of 12 categories for grouping
a workpiece or decor. This is exactly
what makes our systems so applicationoriented
— there is no need to teach
600 decors if there is a large variety in a
company. Instead, the system brings a
really large amount of knowledge to the
table to reliably find the defects in the
most diverse decors.”
Such close cooperation with new tasks is
beneficial for a machine manufacturer,
because it moves the plants forward in
the long term. Eisenkohl concluded: “The
scanner project for Hali was another leap
for us in terms of gaining know-how. This
will benefit other customers with similar
requirements in the future. With Hali,
we were very fortunate to have access
to certain data from the company in
detection during the project. Analysing
the faults we found and assessing the
stability of the system gave us another
boost. We rarely get that much insight,
especially after installing a scanner.” P
The article was first published in
Möbelfertigung by Doris Bauer and is
reproduced here with permission.
The Baumer scanner
is located in the
variant production
line at Hali and
detects all furniture
parts at normal
throughput speed
36 Panels & Furniture Asia | November / December 2022