Solving the Challenges of Changing Product Requirements with Flexible Manufacturing

As many manufacturers worldwide strive to respond to consumer markets that are constantly demanding new and more products, designing processes for them is a major challenge.

Companies like Philips Electronics may have SKU lists that number in the hundreds with updates, changeovers and short delivery times requiring high adaptability in their manufacturing operations.

Consumer products companies, electronics and medical device manufacturers and even food processors are increasingly turning from hard automation and offshoring to flexible automation for the ability to adapt quickly and for opportunities to make their operations more lean.

The high-tech shavers made by Philips Electronics are in great demand and considered premium products all over the world.

Unlike most razors produced, these are assembled in Drachten, Netherlands – the result of a major re-shoring effort leveraging flexible manufacturing.

There, industrial robots from Adept Technology are embedded into a ground-breaking assembly concept that meets Philips’ manufacturing requirements of quality, profitability, and flexibility.

Read “Solving the Challenges of Changing Product Requirements with Flexible Manufacturing” and learn how Philips and other companies in a variety of industries are using flexible manufacturing to create competitive advantages and:

• Meet product changeover requirements
• Accommodate short product life-cycles
• Future proof operations
• Achieve benefits of lean strategies