Case Study: Evident Scientific and the Full Automation of Ultrasonic Probe Design

CHALLENGES:

EVIDENT SCIENTIFIC faces several challenges in the management and production of its probes: a heavy document management workload amounting to thousands of hours per year, long processing times of several weeks for a new probe, and increasing complexity leading to risks of error. To improve its operational efficiency, EVIDENT SCIENTIFIC wishes to automate certain stages of its process. INSTADESIGN is supporting EVIDENT in this approach by analyzing current processes and proposing a tailored path toward automation.

OBJECTIVES:

EVIDENT SCIENTIFIC aims to accelerate the production of its probes, reducing lead times from weeks to just a few days, cutting the document management workload by half, improving quality by limiting manual errors, and increasing sales by at least 15%.

THE PROPOSAL:

INSTADESIGN proposes a solution that will accelerate all processes, starting from the order through to the generation of CAM files or G-code for CNC machines, fully automated and without manual intervention.

THE PROCESS:

1. EVIDENT SCIENTIFIC’s ERP system transmits all manufacturing information for a probe order to the design automation system.
2. Data management is fully managed using SQL databases.
3. The environment includes a server that automatically generates 3D CAD models (parts, assemblies, and drawings), as well as the generation of G-code files associated with CAM software.
4. A user interface including a dashboard that allows for real-time tracking of the entire process.

RESULTS:

Previously, it took an average of 2 to 3 hours to process a single generation manually for nearly similar orders, or double that time for non-similar orders. Thanks to automation, the same task is completed in just 2.5 minutes without any manual intervention, for all types of orders, including new probes within the same family.

• Initial productivity: 1 generation in 150 minutes = 0.0067 generations/min
• Current productivity: 1 generation in 2.5 minutes = 0.4 generations/min
• The improvement factor is 0.4/0.0067=60x.
• 98.3% reduction in time and 100% of manual labor eliminated.
• To be clear, we can say "Productivity multiplied by 60."

Document management is 100% eliminated. Why try to figure out if a past design is still up to date when a generation is nearly instantaneous? Indeed, generating the entire process in 2.5 minutes will always yield up-to-date results, including the automatic generation of G-code.

• 100% reduction in time.

Maintenance of the source models, standardized by family, remains manual; however, it requires significantly less time and resources. Previously, this activity could take several days to a week. With the new process, modifications are targeted (2 to 3 hours), and testing these changes is performed—as you guessed—via automatic generation in 2.5 minutes.

• Initial productivity: 1 maintenance activity in 2000 minutes = $0.0005 \text{ activity/min}$
• Current productivity: 1 generation in 150 minutes = 0.0067 activity/min
• The improvement factor is 0.0067/0.0005=13.4x.
• 92.5% reduction in time.
• "Productivity multiplied by 13."

The engineering resources freed up at EVIDENT SCIENTIFIC are now redeployed to R&D for innovation as well as new value-added tasks, and no longer to manual and repetitive work.