Mechanical Technology October 2015

⎪ On the cover ⎪

Above: Based on the UK-model, SMC South Africa will offer X-factor and quickly imple- mentable RFS customisations from its Midrand facility. Valve manifold assemblies will also be accommodated in the new South African facility. Right: Valve manifold assemblies will also be accommodated in the new South African facility. time in the future,” adds Abbott.

moving the mounting holes or adding a pin hole though the rod tip,” Smith believes. As well as the investment in the machine shop, the current production manager for SMC’s UK production facil- ity, Peter Austin, will be coming to South Africa for a year to manage local produc- tion, transfer skills into South Africa and to make sure the facility achieves its customisation goals. “And while South Africa is a smaller operation than SMC UK and SMC Japan, Peter knows the capability of the UK facility, so if we do not have the local capability to deliver the customised request, we can get it done in the UK within a targeted maximum time of 10 or so days,” says Smith. “Further, if the RFS is something that the UK has not seen before, then it will be sent to SMC Japan, which will decide whether it is possible or cost effective to supply the customisation. In the case where Japan can’t supply the specific RFS, then it will be passed onto SMC’s global research and development team. While the customer may have to find an alternative solution in the short term, the RFS will be logged and retained for future reference and action. Should simi- lar requests come from other customers around the world, then SMC will invest in the development of a solution, which will be made available to all users via a new X-factor or a quickly implementable RFS,” he explains. “In this way, we are a company that continually improves its offering. SMC listens and uses the RFS to identify evolv- ing needs in the market,” Smith informs MechTech .

“By offering engineering services through X-factor, simple specials or RFS customisations, we are able to retrofit old- er machines with our more modern com- ponents or supply components to best match the designs of new machines,” continues Abbott. “Customers that do not have the machines, skills or component knowledge benefit, not only because of the convenience, but any modification completed in our facility will be fully tested and certified to comply with SMC’s global quality standards. Modifications made haphazardly at a jobbing shop may fail prematurely, impacting the reliability of the machine and the success of the entire operation,” he warns. During the RFS request, there is continual and up to date communication between the European Technical Centre and our own people here in South Africa. All communications are recorded and time frames given. Once a proposed solu- tion has been found, drawings are made and a quote generated. Only once the drawings and quote have been accepted by the customer will the manufacturing process begin,” says Abbott. “Ultimately, our goal is to accurately match the processes and systems re- quirements of our customers,” Smith says. “SMC is systematically evolving based on accumulated RFS requests across the globe. This is a key differen- tiator. We do some research based on futuristic concepts, but we also focus on the present demands and require- ments of our market. By doing this we are continually servicing and developing solutions to better meet the real needs of real customers,” he concludes. q

X-factor customisations involve spe- cial assembly and machining, which will be accommodated at SMC Pneumatics’ 4 000 m 2 South African facility currently nearing completion in Midrand, Gauteng. “SMC has invested some R15-million on machining and tooling equipment for this new facility to accommodate customisa- tions such as these,” Smith assures. The X-factor option, however, is only the first level of customisation that has now become available to South African customers. If a customer’s needs cannot be accommodated via X-factor options, then an SMC sales engineer will help the customer generate what we call a ‘request for special’ or RFS. “If you need to retrofit a CP96 to an existing bracket and the standard holes don’t line up for example, then an RFS customisation may have to be done to drill the mounting holes in different positions,” says Abbott. “Or the standard piston rod material might not be suitable for the application. These are very specific modifications that are not covered by the X-factors and these go through to a team of engineers in our European Technical Centre, based in Milton Keynes England. They assess, design and quote on these more complex customer requirements. “Locally, with the machine tools we will have in the new facility, many actuator rod special modifications can be accommodated. In the SMC world these customisations are termed ’simple specials’ and many can be found in our standard catalogue. Most suppliers have a customisation offering, but few will do these detailed customisations such as

Mechanical Technology — October 2015

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