CONTAX INCREASES PRODUCTION FOR STONERIDGE POLLAK

Contax Ltd - UK

15 June 2004

Stoneridge Pollak, part the Stoneridge Group, a world leading designer and manufacturer of highly engineered electrical and electronic components for the automotive and related markets, has turned to Hampshire-based Contax, the leading independent supplier of automated production machines, to increase production efficiency.

With a Group turnover in excess of £630 million, Stoneridge Pollak is a Tier One supplier to the automotive industry, with clients such as: General Motors, Ford Motor Company, Deere and Company and Navistar International Corporation.

It had been awarded a contract to produce the electronic components for automotive hazard warning switches to be installed in General Motors' range of cars. These components comprise a metal plate surrounded by a plastic moulding. The plastic casing has ensured that the components could not be screen printed onto the plate, so another method had to be used.

Explained the spokesman at Stoneridge Pollak, "We had originally spec'd it as requiring two different machines because of the complexity of the components. We had also estimated that it would require two people - to load the pallets and feed them onto the system.

Stoneridge Pollak immediately contacted Contax to ask for their assistance. "We have been dealing with Contax for the last 15 plus years," continued the spokesman. "Indeed, we bought some very early machines from them and a couple of soldering machines - so we knew who to approach with this problem."

Bob Thornton at Contax had another solution that would save both time and manpower. He recommended the Xyflex, a new high speed, high accuracy dispenser manufactured by Camalot. He explained that with Stoneridge Pollak's original specification, they would have little additional capacity - essential if production was set to increase. Also, as the Xyflex provides automatic pallet loading it would save in labour; only one man is needed to operate the system rather that two, as originally estimated.

Speed is also a key factor. The Xyflex chosen can operate at up to 120,000 dispenses per hour, whereas their previous system could only manage 15,000 dots per hour.

"Another feature of the Xyflex is that it has four dispensing heads working in sequence," continued the Stoneridge Pollak spokesperson. "This means that we can use different needle sizes and place different amounts of solder according to the component. So, we have more solder for resistors whilst ICs only need a small amount of paste.

"Now, not only do we have a very fast and precise dispenser that has almost ten times the capability of one of the old systems, but we also save on labour costs," he concluded.

Stoneridge Pollak are currently producing 30,000 components per week, working two shifts 7 days per week. After Christmas this will increase to three shifts.

"Before Contax's recommendations we were looking at two systems and two men to run this production system. Now we only need one engineer and the Xyflex system," said the commentator at Stoneridge Pollak. "Contax has given us excellent advice, and also provides superb after-sales service," he continued. "We have total peace of mind, knowing that we can call on the service department any time of the day or night.

He continued, "Service is a key issue for us. We wanted to deal with a UK company with a good regional network of service engineers who really understand the systems. For us, Contax is the only company with those credentials," he said.