Laser Marking Success Stories | Jiffy Tite
Identification marks on component parts are more important than ever before, especially in today’s integrated production lines. Manufacturers must be able to verify that a product is actually theirs (and not a counterfeit or gray market item), and if issues arise, to trace it through various design and production processes by its unique mark.
As important as identification marks are, old methods for applying these marks are often slow, inefficient, of inadequate quality and costly. But now, manufacturers across the country are discovering a fast, high quality and efficient solution: laser marking. Lasers can be integrated much more easily into the production process, saving time and money; produce clear and permanent marks; and are simple to maintain for peak, dependable performance, part after part, year after year.
Jiffy-tite is a company that has discovered the many advantages of using lasers for its identification marking. Headquartered in
Jiffy-tite initially used roll stamps through ink jets to mark its products, but this system proved to be expensive, inefficient, and uneven. Ink jets and its consumables are very costly to maintain and temperamental. Another drawback is ensuring consistent quality of each roll stamp. The company also used dot peening, but the cycle time was significantly slower than that of the assembly machines. Additionally, dot peening deformed metal parts and caused premature rust.
In late 2005, a large automotive customer raised a quality control issue which potentially threatened Jiffy-tite’s renowned reputation for high standards in its manufacturing processes. Though it was not at fault, Jiffy-tite did not have a concrete tracking system in place, which made it difficult to emerge unscathed from this situation. Mecco Marking & Traceability offered a welcome solution for increasing accountability in the future: a laser system for direct part marking.
The first laser system installed at Jiffy-tite was a MeccoMark 20W Fiber pulse laser, which meets all AIAG requirements and creates a small, non-evasive mark. The mark consists of a time and date stamp along with the Jiffy-tite logo, which works to combat counterfeit part distribution in the automotive parts market. This machine was integrated by Great Lakes AMI into a proprietary cam-driven rotary dial (Ami/4) with only a 2.4 second cycle time and a per part laser mark time of only .8 seconds. The speed of the laser mark was more than adequate and produced a much better mark than any other marking system the company had reviewed.
Jiffy-tite paid less than $50,000 for the Mecco laser unit, with a $17,000 integration cost to adapt to current production equipment. This included PLC programming and hardware, shrouding, interlocks and mounting.
Aside from significant improvements in clarity and quality, the return on investment from this technology comes in the form of savings in cash, man-hours, and sorting costs.
When there is an issue in the field, it’s difficult to nail down lots and component information once the fittings are separated from the shipping boxes. Now, Jiffy-tite simply asks for the etched information (date and time). This allows the company to access records to find vital information for not only this particular client, but potentially other clients as well. For example, it can determine whether other issues occurred with lots using the same components for assembly or if customers had similar issues with the same vintage of parts. It can also review maintenance activities during this time. If a sort is necessary, then a much smaller sort is required. It takes seconds to locate the necessary information rather than the previous hours it took before. Sorting for Jiffy-tite has never been a major issue and the company has a very impressive record, but it does happen and when it does, it can be costly.
For Jiffy-tite, using lasers for identification marking has resulted in better quality control and defect containment. A fitting receives the Jiffy-tite mark only after it has been lightly oiled, assembled with an O-ring and clip, leak-tested, inspected with a machine vision system and quality-checked for proper assembly and fit. The laser mark represents that the fitting has been subjected to all of the testing and inspections in the automated process and passed.
Using the last five years’ historical data, Jiffy-tite calculates that savings gained from reduced sort costs, man-hours searching for records and sending personnel into the field to investigate issues will be a payback of less than two years per unit. The Mecco-supplied Fiber laser system is the first of many that Jiffy-tite plans to install—the company is planning to place four more systems by mid-2007.
Since the laser has been installed, Jiffy-tite has experienced very minor integration issues. Mecco has supplied unmatched service through on-site technicians. Once the company’s personnel became comfortable with the new technology, maintenance time is down to less than five minutes per month. This includes wiping the lens of any dust blowing out the vacuum filter.
Jiffy-tite is an example of a small company that is continuously improving its manufacturing capabilities with cutting-edge technology, such as Fiber lasers, which not only brings value savings, but also ensures a higher quality part and better relationship with customers.
Many companies that continually seek to improve their manufacturing capabilities are exploring the cutting-edge technology of fiber optic lasers. In fact, several of Jiffy-tite’s customers have seen the laser etching on parts and have expressed interest for their own parts. One customer asked for an immediate install of the laser system to mark all of its parts, which involved two separate production lines.
Jiffy-tite has been tremendously impressed with the laser marking system. The company has experienced significant savings in time and money; it was able to reaffirm its reputation among its customers for high quality products and service; and now has the ability to respond quickly and decisively to any business threats.
