Azurea quality" with Ellistat's APC software solution for machine tool control.
" Meeting the growing demand for capability with parts with centred dimensions "
History
The Group comprises four companies, three of which are based in Switzerland: Azurea Technologie Horlogere SA, Azurea Microtechnique SA (medical) and Azurea Jauges SA (metrology). The last entity, Azurea Unipessoal Lda, was created to support Swiss companies and is based in Portugal (Porto). A brief history to remind us that the 1st company was founded in 1914 by Célestin Konrad, in Moutier (Switzerland - Bernese Jura). It originally specialised in the manufacture of watch components. In recent years, the company has created and acquired sites enabling it to develop and diversify under the name of Azurea Holding SA and has been managed since 1995 by Mr Daniel Uhlmann.
The key to success?
This development enables the Azurea Group to respond innovatively not only to the demands of the watchmaking industry, but also to those of the medical, dental -implantable, dental and device sectors. The Azurea Group is recognised in its respective sectors for the high quality of its production of highly complex parts and assemblies.
The key to success?
Investments in high-quality production tools and the involvement of everyone concerned, in particular around Ellistat's APC (Automated Process Control) solution, in use since 2020, guarantee more efficient management of production.
Azurea Unipessoal LDA celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2022, with more than €8 million invested in this Group production unit, which has a total of 30 Tornos CNC bar-turning machine tools.
As Vincent Skrzypczak, CEO of Azurea Unipessoal LDA, explains: "The values promoted by the Group are innovation, independence, respect, ambition and success. The investments we make are technically oriented and dedicated to our customers. There are no sales people within the Group. The managers of the various entities have historically been in direct contact with customers. As an example of innovation, he adds: "In the current context, we offer our customers services other than simply the manufacture of single components, but also more complex assemblies and functions. What's more, we make a lot of room for young people within the Group, particularly those coming from technical apprenticeships and engineering schools, so that we can have a real dynamic and also offer interesting prospects for development and careers".
The medical sector: standing out for the quality and complexity of parts
In 2009, through the acquisition of a third-party company, we were able to optimise the division of roles between each company and focus on the medical sector.
While the watchmaking industry is concentrated almost exclusively in Switzerland, the medical sector faces an ultra-competitive global market. It is therefore vital for Azurea to stand out from the crowd in terms of the complexity and quality of the parts it produces.
Azurea Microtechnique SA is ISO 13485 certified and meets customer requirements in terms of traceability and validation of all production processes. Due to its complexity, a great deal of preparatory work is carried out prior to production. Azurea is able to offer prototyping of around 50 parts before launching production of several thousand parts per year. The production constraints on parts and assemblies relate to dimensional aspects, with tolerances of 5 microns, as well as aesthetic and functional aspects. The parts produced for the medical sector cover a wide spectrum, from parts for operating robotics and tools for orthopaedic surgery to connectors that can be implanted in the brain.
The search for a simple, intuitive solution to meet capability requirements
In 2020, to meet changing customer requirements in terms of part quality and precision, the company is looking for a solution to guarantee the "Azurea quality" for which it is renowned, for parts as well as for assemblies produced in-house. In fact, a new trend is emerging, still anecdotal for the moment, which consists of demanding capability rather than tolerances in relation to the dimensions to be respected. This means that a drifting production process is no longer acceptable, and that we need to work with 'centred dimensions'.
The initial project, launched in Switzerland, involved the search for software to improve production control and monitoring in order to guarantee the said centred dimensions. On the recommendations of its service provider Ovale Performance (training, organisation), Azurea was interested in the APC software solution developed by the French publisher ELLISTAT, based in Haute-Savoie. The software is recognised for its performance, ease of use and intuitiveness.
Two APC licences were tested in Switzerland, followed by two in Portugal over a one-month period. The company looked at competing solutions, but they proved to be more complex to use and more expensive.
The APC test period was combined with a week's training, followed by the managers who then trained the other setters. Internally, the aim was to explain the meaning of the approach and the desire to improve internal processes: the benefits of working with centred dimensions in order to always deliver the same quality to customers; not forgetting the satisfaction of the assembly department in receiving parts with centred dimensions for optimum assembly.
It took around 6 months to implement the solution, provide support and get staff on board. Azurea Unipessoal LDA was the first site to be equipped. As Vincent Skrzypczak explains: "We wanted all 100% employees to sign up to the APC solution. It was out of the question to hear, in case of bad programming, 'it's APC's fault'. Awareness had to be raised, and users and management had to agree on the need for improvement. The training and support have paid off, with the whole team using and adopting the software perfectly.
APC is easy to use and intuitive, accessible to unskilled operators. APC is used for rapid set-up and production monitoring. But Vincent Skrzypczak insists that you need to have a quality production tool (measuring equipment, machine tools, etc.) and that the work involved in preparing the APC programme is very important. For example, the correspondence between the number of tools and correctors, indicating the dimensions involved, etc.
60 APC licences to boost productivity and Azurea quality
Today, the Azurea Group has 60 APC licences, one per machine. Vincent Skrzypczak comments: "All you have to do is measure the part, enter the data into APC and it automatically makes all the corrections in one go. This makes the work of our employees much easier. Before APC, if the drift remained within tolerance, the setter had two options: re-centre the dimension or leave it as it was, within the acceptable limit. With APC, the dimension is always centred. We have achieved our objective in terms of quality and improved our productivity, because set-up time has fallen by around 50 % and the company's overall scrap rate by around 30 %."
What's more, in the event of regular drift on a machine, APC highlights the fact that there is a problem to be solved in the machining process, with the risk of incorrect setting by the operator being totally eliminated with the use of the software.
APC has enabled us to produce the right quality," adds Vincent Skrzypczak. The software provides data on capability. If it's not good, we need to improve the process. Conversely, if it is very high, we need to space out the checks. For some parts, we have gone from 6 checks to just 3 a day.
In order to go even further, i.e. to enable corrections to be sent directly to the machine by APC, Azurea is waiting for the machine manufacturer to release the OPC-UA option.
Vincent Skrzypczak is also very satisfied with relations with the Ellistat team. "The work and exchanges with Ellistat over the first six months were very beneficial. Even today, if we have any doubts about a part, their support service is very responsive, and we get a reply within half a day. Regular updates ensure that the tool is constantly evolving. The ease of use of the software and the proximity to Ellistat are a real winning combination.