Elster is a manufacturer of products and system solutions for the safety, measurement and control of gas processes. The portfolio includes safety fittings and control components for heating systems as well as systems that measure and control industrial heating processes. Elster has developed a new generation of electronic gas meters especially for the Dutch and UK markets. High quantities, lower production costs and more automation are the key requirements. Workpiece carrier transport systems (WTS) from Stein are used to meet these requirements.

The first system supplies five manual workstations and a post-processing area. Here, employees fit electronic totalizers to the gas meters. The material arrives at the line on transport trolleys and employees place it on the line. The electronics are then parameterized at three stations and leak tests are carried out at two others. The system supplies the individual stations reliably and precisely. This enables reliable assembly in large quantities. Transport takes place on standard workpiece carriers for which Elster has designed special supports. Softmove plays a special role here: Stein developed this system to convey goods quickly, gently and energy-efficiently. This is an advantage for Elster, as sensitive electronic components are moved here.

The second Stein system supplies and disposes of an automated line developed by Elster. Calibration of nine gas meters, each stored one behind the other, takes place on four test bench systems. Employees place the components on the workpiece carriers in front of the infeed point, which transfer the components to the line. After testing, the meters are returned to the WTS and transferred to another automated line where final assembly takes place. Data handling was a challenge. The product leaves the transfer line and then returns; the transfer of data must work reliably. The routing for component control is in the SAP/ME manufacturing execution system. Information on how the counters are to be handled is sent to Stein's master computer, and appropriate interfaces were required here. During this project phase, there was intensive cooperation between the programmers at both companies.

WTS have significantly improved the production processes at Elster. The company implements fast throughput times and assembles large quantities. pb