The challenge
The leading manufacturer of cylinder deactivation actuators, with plants in Europe, Asia and the USA, was faced with the challenge of expanding its capacities for critical components (guide rods and bushings) in the actuators. Existing suppliers could not cover the additional capacity requirements. The high quality requirements were also a factor here, as component failure can lead to engine damage.
The special nature of the task
Due to the very high planned volumes of guide rods, ensuring quality was a challenging task. This applied in particular to a bushing with a length of approx. 30 mm and a through hole with the tightest tolerances of only 0.018 mm for machinability and very high requirements in terms of surface roughness.
The Dakoko solution
For the guide rods, Dakoko completely overhauled the manufacturing process and designed a special machine jointly with a German machine manufacturer. For the bushings, Dakoko developed special drills and reamers together with a leading German tool manufacturer to ensure stable, reproducible results in high-volume production (> 2 million units per year).
Details that make the difference
Compared to previous suppliers, the production time of the guide rods was reduced by two thirds. As a result, Dakoko was not only able to ensure the required additional capacity, but also gained a 30% cost advantage for the customer over the previous supplier.
An automated final inspection of all guide rods and bushings ensures that all dimensions of the components are correct.
Benefits for the customer
- Absolute quality thanks to 100% monitoring
- Drastic increase in capacity and thereby ensuring security of supply
- 30% cost savings