Time is money – and a lot of it in train assembly
As orders for new trains continue to rise around the globe, manufacturers are under pressure to increase their production volume to keep pace with this demand. Not so long ago, the target was one train car per week. Today, that expectation has jumped to at least one per day.
“Cable management expertise can help adjust the process to achieve greater efficiency”
Assembly process time is consequently a top priority and dedicated design-to-cost engineers now analyse process costs as a parameter throughout the product development lifecycle. That’s where cable management expertise can help adjust the process to achieve greater efficiency.
Designing components for process efficiency
The floor, ceiling and walls of train cars are spanned with cable trays. Cut-outs in the aluminium decrease the material weight and are an obvious point at which the wire harnesses can be fastened with cable ties.
“Threading ties through the slots in the cable trays every 20 to 30 cm can only be done by hand”, explains Zdeněk Langer, who serves the needs of Škoda Transportation in the Czech Republic for HellermannTyton. “The laser-cut holes also have sharp edges, which means protective gloves are mandatory”, he adds.
But this is only the first step. Next, the cable harnesses have to be laid in and the ties closed. Then they are tensioned, cut off flush and the excess strap collected. Now repeat that tens of thousands of times to fasten the wiring harness throughout a train with 20 train cars. That results in a huge amount of labour time.
Utilising the tray holes differently to save time
“I was impressed when I saw with my own eyes for the first time how adept staff on the assembly line were at bending the cable ties in and out of the oval holes. However, I was startled when I realised the limits of how fast they could work and just how much time this laborious process takes”, reports Zdeněk.
“Material and design know-how can make a big difference to the bottom line”
“Fortunately, our colleagues in product development at HellermannTyton have a lot of experience when it comes to designing for processing efficiency”, he says. “The One-Click Mount is a good illustration of how their material and design know-how can make a big difference to the bottom line for customers like mine.”
The One-Click Mount is a standard fixing part that draws on best practices gathered from cable management projects in other industries. Featuring an arrowhead foot part and disc, it is easy to push into the tray hole by hand until it clicks, locking the mount firmly in place on both sides of the hole. The version for oval holes also prevents the mount from twisting under load.
“We supply the One-Click Mount with a cable tie pre-inserted, which also saves the production worker repetitive processing time”, adds Zdeněk. “Instead of bending ties all shift long, all they have to do now is take the two-piece part out of the bag and push it into place. It can be pre-installed on the tray or even on the harness and simply clicked into the tray in one assembly step, which is optimum.”
“Utilising existing tray holes more efficiently frees up valuable assembly resources”
It can make very good economic sense to take a closer look at design options to accelerate processes and save hours of repetitive labour time. In this case, a more efficient use of existing tray holes frees up valuable assembly resources.
“On the face of it, a cable tie plus a mount might look like a lot more money for c-parts”, acknowledges Zdeněk Langer. “But take into account the processing time saved and you begin to see this and the world of specialised cable management through different eyes.”
