SteveH
-
Posts
17 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Forums
Events
3D Prints
Posts posted by SteveH
-
-
19 minutes ago, peggyb said:
Which terms of Lean are you using at the moment and are there any others for the future?
We currently train people in relevant roles in the concepts of lean six sigma. Most of the Supply Chain & Manufacturing team now have at least a white belt, with 20 yellow belts, 6 green belts and 2 black belts. With a common understanding we apply lean six sigma methodology and continually improve our process throughout the value stream. In addition to this we always test every single printer that is produced to ensure that it is 100% conform to specification before shipping it to customers.
-
1
-
-
1 minute ago, peggyb said:
are you currently working or looking at the circular economy?
We analyse our impact on the environment and make conscious choices about material selection and freight in the supply chain. In addition 3D printing itself often helps our customers to reduce wastage versus traditional moulding technologies.
-
2 minutes ago, cjs said:
Are you guys looking into using 3d printed parts (SLS, Clip technology by carbon3d....) instead of injection molded ones? Allowing you to adjust even quicker. What are the drawbacks keeping you from doing so?
We are always looking to use 3D printing, until now we have exploited this much more within our own production process than within the product itself.
-
1
-
-
3 minutes ago, cjs said:
What are the challenges with the new aluminium build plates? I heared that they were delayed because of issues in the supplie chain.
There are no challenges, only opportunities? In this case we are working to achieve the highest possible quality for the aluminium build plate and this is taking a little longer than anticipated.
-
2
-
-
3 hours ago, cloakfiend said:
Ok heres my question, Was printing quicker and maintaining the same quality of prints ever explored? If not why not.? Also why does no one in filament exploration experiment making nice filaments that easily smooth with say...acetone. seeing as your filament back in 2016 was the best. Even better than colorfabb, as we (I) know the blends of pla and pha produce effortless amazing results. also are the fans on the Ultimaker S5 the same as on the Ultimaker 2 / 3? How do you decide to source a new part or continue to use an existing part?
The R&D team is always working hard to improve the customer experience, reliability and quality get the highest focus. as much as possible we try to use common parts, such as with fans, but also here the quality is the leading decision variable.
-
2 minutes ago, peggyb said:
and another a question about demand: do you produce on order or for stock?
Of course a new product needs an amount to sent to resellers, but after the first launch.
The established products have a more predictable sales pattern than new products. We do however use the insights of the sales team and their sales partners to produce to an acceptable stock level for all printers. Our goal is to always have printers available when a customer wants to purchase, we are prepared to invest in inventory to ensure this service level.
-
1 minute ago, cjs said:
Can you share one or two improvements, which have reduced the assembly time, as from looking at it you would guess everything is pretty much the same?
The assembly of the housing was a significant improvement, with self locking flat head screws for speed and aesthetics. We can now use a single hand with an electric screwdriver, instead of having to use two hands to hold and tighten screws.
-
7 hours ago, Dim3nsioneer said:
OK, I have a first question for Steve: What special challenges in production come with the new Ultimaker S5? I guess the significantly increased weight might be one of them? Maybe there are others?
The Ultimaker S5 is BIG! As well as allowing the customer to benefit from a larger print volume it also brings new challenges to how we move semi and finished products around. We have therefore developed lifts that also operate as trolleys, this allows the team to more easily and safely lift and move the S5 through the assembly process.
-
5 minutes ago, cjs said:
How do you deal with the demand? Reading interviews etc. the demand for Ultimaker printers is rapidly growing.
Having to teach each assembly worker probably is a bottle neck?!
Assembly operators continually learn and as a result get more consistent and speed up, this has over the course of the last 18 months absorbed a lot of the increased demand. We do however recruit and train new employees on a regular basis and we have a really solid team of trainers who produce excellent work instructions for the operators to refer to while working.
-
3 minutes ago, cjs said:
Out of curiosity. Whats the average assembly time of an UM2go/UM2+/UM3/S5? Which model can be assembled the quickest? Whats the deciding factor? My guess would be that the time to assemble an UM3 and S5 would be similiar.
The total throughput time including; picking, pre-assemblies, quality control and boxing ranges from 400-550 minutes. The Ultimaker 2+ is currently the most simple and quickest printer to assemble. The S5 is now quicker than the smaller dual extrusion UM3, because the manufacturing engineering team has made improvements to the assembly process.
-
1
-
-
Just now, ultiarjan said:
So each printer is build by a single operator, but "not really" as the assembly is done based on pre assembled parts (sub-assemblies) right? like the main panels and the head and maybe some other stuff?
There are two flows of parts to the person who picks and populates the production trays for assembly. One flow is individual parts directly from the warehouse. The other flow is pre-assemblies, which we picked as parts and then assembled in to a combined part. The feeder for example is picked and produced from flow racks, then booked back on to a warehouse location before being re-picked as a single (assembled) part for main assemble the following day.
-
3 minutes ago, SandervG said:
Hi @SteveH, are there standardized rules of measurement that help you determine whether or not a certain packaging passed the test, or is it mostly just our own subjective observation after unpacking?
The packaging is tested by an external certified body and it is an industry standard. Avoiding any damage to the printer is of course the basic requirement, but the packaging itself must also be able to withstand multiple impacts and still be intact.
-
1 hour ago, ultiarjan said:
Another question for Steve, do you do all machine types on the same line? do you mix types or do you do larger batches of the same machine? Specifically, does the S5 fit on the existing conveyors.
Great question. We actually work in cells, with every operator trained and able to assemble every model of printer that we produce. They have work instructions for each printer and assemble one full printer at a time. This is a little different to line manufacturing that is often used for higher volume production. The S5 is transported to each cell using the same conveyor as all other products, but due to the size of the parts it requires a few extra trays per printer.
-
2 hours ago, DidierKlein said:
I have a question regarding transport boxes.
As we all know, transporters are not known to be really gentle with what they transport. So i'm wondering how is the transport case for the printers designed? Is it tested (punched, kicked, thrown etc...).
I guess it's kind of expensive but the foam box for the 2go is really great, would it be adaptable to the S5 for example?
11 minutes ago, gr5 said:I know that Ultimaker3's are made both in Netherlands and USA. Is the same true for the S5?
Yes that is correct! Local for local as much as we can...
-
2 hours ago, DidierKlein said:
One more thing, regarding quality control.
I know that all printers are very well controlled, and that all of them have one test print or two (the actual sample that is shipped with all printers).
So is there some kind of more in depth tests done on random printers? I mean would it happen that some printers get more print hours than others before being sent to distributors?
The testing process during development is much deeper and more broad, these are printers which are not later sold. For mass production we have an optimised test print that we designed to prove all aspects of the print quality. All printers get the same testing and 100% of printers are tested at the end of the production cycle.
-
2 hours ago, DidierKlein said:
I have a question regarding transport boxes.
As we all know, transporters are not known to be really gentle with what they transport. So i'm wondering how is the transport case for the printers designed? Is it tested (punched, kicked, thrown etc...).
I guess it's kind of expensive but the foam box for the 2go is really great, would it be adaptable to the S5 for example?
The most challenging element of designing packaging is that the supply chain differs dramatically by country. For this reason we are careful to collect global requirements when designing packaging and including all stakeholders. After considering all requirements three potential suppliers provide solutions which we then fully test in an independent laboratory. Tests always include dropping the box on various sides and corners, as well as vibration to simulate both road and air freight.
The Ultimaker 2Go user case was based on a transportable printer, the Ultimaker S5 is now so heavy that it should not be carried by a single person. In addition it is used on a more professional environment and not moved. There is therefore no substantial benefit to developing a similar foam box to the 2Go. It would be an interest challenge though!
Ultimaker AMA: Quality Control & Assembly - May 16th 5pm CEST
in Official news
Posted
@kmanstudios You kindly asked "During developmental cycles how long does it take to have a change go from notification to implementation? An example would be the change from the white slider blocks to the black slider blocks on the UM3 Series. Could you say anything about what process is in place?"
This depends on the part and scope of the change. R&D perform advanced life-cycle testing (ALT) and this takes a differing amount of time for different parts. Sometimes a change can be tested in a few days (by printing) and other times we need to work with first and second tier suppliers for several months.