Originally founded in 1900 as the Philips Maschinenfabrik (engineering factory)--which was instrumental in the development of the light bulb--the company, associated with the VDL Enabling Technologies Group since 2006, now provides mechatronic highlights that find their application in the semiconductor industry and in medical and solar technology. Certified under the high quality standards of industry, medicine and space travel, the contract manufacturer today operates facilities throughout the world of more than 125,000 m2 (of which 10,000 m2 are under clean room conditions) and manufactures products for semiconductor equipment, medical equipment, laser equipment, aerospace and solar energy industries.
Driven by the most demanding customer requirements, VDL ETG provides high-tech mechatronics daily to OEM customers around the world, ranging from small units to fully automated systems and complete production lines. Despite the immense diversity of „his“ products, quality manager Hugo Kok appears unimpressed when it comes to tracking potential customer complaints: „As a specialist in the areas of analytical and semi-conductor systems as well as medical technology, it is a matter of course for VDL ETG to deliver mechatronic solutions with the highest quality standards,“ said Mr Kok. „Should potential failure ever occur in our rigorous testing, we are able to quickly pinpoint the causes anywhere in the entire production process.“
The accurate tracking of possible errors from receiving to the manufacturing process to shipping is implemented by the company with a complaint management solution developed by CAQ AG Factory Systems. The „REM.Net®“ system is used not only at the two Dutch sites, Eindhoven and Almelo, but also by the 200 employees at its headquarters in Singapore. Geographical distances, time zones or language barriers have no effect on the rapid handling of customer complaints. To that end, the data from all three sites are organized in a common database, in which the potential problems and all information relevant to VDL ETG are documented. Due to the comprehensive use of REM.Net® throughout the company, a customer complaint can lead directly to the generation of a claim for the responsible supplier. Or the system identifies correlations to internal complaints.
With the CAQ system, Mr Kok is able to print a separate claim form for each customer, which he designed with the graphical form editor Form.Net®. Of course all the relevant customer and product data are included, as well as documentation of the short, medium and long term measures taken. The form builder provides access to almost all fields of the database. To ensure that the subsequent review of the success of measures is not forgotten, even after weeks or months, REM.Net® offers the opportunity to track the execution of tasks.
Besides the expedient follow-up of individual complaints, the QA Manager is likewise always interested in prospects for development. To this end, REM.Net® offers evaluations of all fields of the database. Whether daily, weekly, quarterly or once, the frequency can be set arbitrarily for each evaluation.
Since the evaluations are just as intuitive as the rest of the software, even one-time analyses are time-saving. In all cases, the data from REM.Net® are presented with graphical appeal. Upon request, they can also be exported as raw data for further processing, for example, in Excel. Reports generated in this way can be sent as PDF files directly to customers or other interested parties. It goes without saying that these evaluations can also play a role in supplier assessment.
To ensure the utmost customer satisfaction, it is particularly important for the quality manager of VDL Enabling Technologies Group to act with foresight: „Through the systematic use of our software, we are now able to eliminate potential errors before they arise.“
In 2008, when VDL ETG was in the process of selecting a future partner in quality management, the requirements were immense: Based on VDL ETG‘s need to meet the quality standards of the semiconductor, medical and aerospace industries, the company was looking for a software vendor who possessed extensive experience in these areas. In addition, the computer-aided quality management solution would need to be accessible from any location, so that the site in Singapore could be integrated. Furthermore, there would need to be a guarantee of the continued development of future software to ensure the ability to adapt both to the ever increasing demands of customers and to the continuous growth of business.
The 25-year proven track record and extensive experience of the internationally competitive CAQ AG Factory Systems in the fields of aerospace, medicine and semiconductor technology, helped the Rheinböllen based company emerge as an early favorite. The fact that the system is pre-validated is seen as an inestimable advantage by the suppliers of medical technology. The integrated network capability of the „CAQ.Net® solution“ is a plus for the developer of CAQ AG Factory Systems as well, since it assured that the remote Singapore location would have a direct involvement in the production process of VDL Enabling Technologies Group. Due to the multi-language support of the CAQ-system, it is also possible to operate the software in the preferred language at each location.
After the decision was made to partner with CAQ AG, the new software was deployed in a very short time span. Because of its modular design, it could be adapted without custom programming both to the technical conditions and to the individual requirements of users. Through a targeted customization of the user interface, the user requirements could be met in such a way that the standard software exceeded any demands for an individually developed solution. It is a crucial advantage for VDL ETG that the individual-use system remains 100% standard software. All updates, upgrades and future enhancements can be easily installed on site by the administrator without the user being disturbed in his or her daily business.
As expected by a supplier for semiconductor, medical and aerospace technology, the VDL Enabling Technologies Group guarantees worldwide computer-aided quality today with a potential for continued development. Advancements in this area are already in the planning, details of which will be forthcoming. After all, when the light bulb was developed in 1900, no one predicted its future production in a clean room…
Renowned customers especially demanding in the area of quality and environmental management describe their success stories and serve as guarantors and references for software that yields high performance and is reliable and fair.
From mid-size companies to multi-national corporations, CAQ AG develops innovative, integrated software solutions that satisfy the highest demands and meet all requirements of quality management.
Furthermore, CAQ AG software supports all quality-related processes pertaining to any value added chain, production companies, and service providers. We attach special importance to compliance with standards as well as 100% release-capability of all of our software solutions without any restrictions – all this while retaining the maximum degree of customization to satisfy customer-specific demands.
Although CAQ AG software solutions are installed on thousands of systems worldwide, we guarantee that you can update your version automatically, no matter how many updates and upgrades you have installed previously. All upgrades function with minimum servicing time and effort onsite. Updates install automatically without requiring you to consult or involve our service staff. Updates neither change nor impede any customer-specific configurations. This principle ensures the full value of your investments.
In all of our efforts our most important goal is not just to satisfy you, but instead to thrill you! One thing is essential to realizing this goal – and we are very proud of our accomplishments on this front: We have a highly motivated, engaged, and competent team in which and with which working is fun!
It is a matter of course for us here at CAQ AG that our employees in development, support, customer service, sales, and management, in addition to having university degrees as well as practical experience, have completed the training courses for “Quality Manager GFQ-IHK” or “Quality Assistant GFQ-IHK” and stay up-to-date by continuously completing training programs.
