Employing approximately 1,700 workers, EPCOS, which manufactures so-called passive building components, represents the largest employer of this region. Its influence even reaches into Slovenia. EPCOS was founded in 1970 with 200 employees, and the company has expanded continually since then. In 1989, a joint venture between Siemens and the Japanese company Matsushita formed the basis for its success, including a move to go public in 1999. Stock numbers in Frankfurt and New York, as well as the leading position in the new technology index TecDax, point the way toward a successful future for the company, whose main stockholders are still Siemens and Mitsushita with 12.5 % each.
At EPCOS, in its 70,000 square meter large production area with 15 manufacturing buildings, the latest in high-tech standards are at work. Here lies the company’s central location, with other sites spread all over the world and with over 13,000 employees. EPCOS develops and produces passive electronic components for the information and telecommunication industry as well as the automotive, industrial and consumer technology sectors.
These components, produced in cleanroom conditions on an anti-static floor, represent inconspicuous elements in most consumers’ electronics. Not many people know that there are approximately 200 of these tiny components actively at work in their laptops or cell phones. In a conventional television approximately 400 components exist, and in luxury cars up to 13,000 of these highly sensitive components perform their various duties. Largely invisible, these components process signals, control energy distribution, and protect switches in devices of all kinds. Almost everyone makes use of these components at work and at home numerous times a day; they can be found in trains, starters in cars, electrical supplies, and in data and information transmissions.
Areas of operation are divided into segments at EPCOS AG. Their products range from capacitors used in all areas of electronics and technology, to ceramic components essential in household and automotive technologies, and include surface wave components and ferrites and inductors. In Deutschlandsberg the company concentrates on developing and producing ceramic components which belong to a group of key elements in state-of-the-art information and communication technology. The company’s broad product range encompasses thermistors, sensors, varistors, ceramic multi-layer capacitors, and actuators, based on Piezo technology, which filter electronic signals, take physical measurements, such as temperatures, and protect electronic switches.
Karl Diwiak, supervisor for processing technology and quality control in microwave ceramics and modules, is responsible for production processes of components, which filter electronic high frequency signals and are employed in the areas of mobile radios, WLAN, Hyper LAN, and diverse cordless devices. The certified engineer Diwiak, in addition to his assorted responsibilities, is also a specialist for quality control software.
In cooperation with two other engineers, Günter Harold, responsible for in-house information technology, and his colleague, Herbert Weixler, Mr. Diwiak worked for a year on a project to introduce a new quality control system into the company. He and his colleagues tested and compared numerous software providers.
The demands placed on a potential quality control system were relatively high. One of the prerequisites for future cooperation with a software provider was, in addition to having experience with SAP® peripheral systems, possessing knowledge pertaining to connecting gauge systems already in use and exchanging information with other EPCOS locations.
When it come to quality, EPCOS in Deutschlandsberg relies on CAQ AG Factory Systems software solutions since April 2003. In addition to CAQ AG Factory Systems’ comprehensive experience when it comes to SAP® and multitenancy, EPCOS also appreciated the Rheinböllen company’s performance potential. The EPCOS team quickly recognized in CAQ AG Factory Systems’ software developers active and competent partners who were intent on integrating their system as smoothly as possible into EPCOS’s existing peripherals. CAQ AG Factory Systems and the EPCOS team installed, in cooperation with SAP, not only a one-way connection but a complex, individualized two-way connection with the existing SAP® ERP system. “That was quite an accomplishment”, explains project director Diwiak. “It doesn’t happen often that SAP allows an outside software provider to connect directly to its system.”
Even the specialized peripherals, complex gauges technology with bi-directional gauge tasks produced in Austria, became an instant hit in Steiermark.
“None of the other software providers knew about these gauges”, reports Mr. Herold. “But the employees at CAQ AG Factory Systems have been actively engaged with this technology and presented an impressive solution to us. This solution allowed for connecting diverse types of gauges and therefore saved us a lot of money and new investments.”
It did not matter to EPCOS that its new software providers was located about a day’s drive from Deutschlandsberg. Mr. Harold explains: “In addition to providing service via e-mail, telephone, and online interventions, CAQ AG Factory Systems’s Austrian authorized representative also offers consultation and training sessions. Even when there is a problem which goes too deep for its Austrian representation, CAQ AG Factory Systems’s experts are at hand during normal business hours. But we haven’t had to resort to this option even once yet!“
As a result of a comprehensive, circa six month test phase, EPCOS started using the CAQ AG Factory Systems software in April of 2003. It began with SPC workstations in the area of ceramic components. Today, the Austrian company owns a CBL license (CBL=corporate business license) of CAQ-Compact.Net®. Many gauge and inspection areas are in use. Mr. Weixler reports: “After all, not all gauge areas are in operation at all times. But at CAQ AG Factory Systems the number of workstations and installations does not translate into the same number of licenses, but instead into a limitation of simultaneous access onto the system“
At EPCOS everyone is completely satisfied to have been able to eliminate former “weed growth” of dBase-based quality control systems. Our own system, developed in the early 1990s, was simply no longer able to stand up to the increasing demands of our high-tech company. It finally had to give way completely when it came to upgrading to the Windows operating system. The CAQ AG Factory Systems software, with its integrated norms, customized FMEA or audit control, offers optimal conditions to assure the highest quality standards. This is ample reason for EPCOS to start thinking about further, worldwide expansions of its system.
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.
