As a specialist in the manufacturing of wires and flexible copper cords in non-insulated and tin-plated designs, ANKA-Draht supplies several types of business, from medical technology and the automotive industry to the defense and electronics industries, with highly conductive wires and cords, which, according to demand, vary by diameter and design.
Whereas in the medical field there is often a need for electrical conductors of less than 0.05 millimeters, in other areas there is demand for cords with bundled wire containing up to 10,000 individual elements in order to guarantee the transport of high voltage. All thicknesses, which, conform to the customers wishes, leave the premises as individual or twisted wire, are derived from an 8-millimeter casting roller wire. This wire is then systematically tapered by being pulled over so-called drawing dies, so that, after much mechanical processing, a 1.6 millimeter super-fine conductor less than the width of a human hair can be derived from an 8 millimeter copper element.
Even if the cords and wires are ultimately utilized in several industries, this family business does not act as a direct supplier in these fields, in order to avoid competition with their own customers. As a manufacturer of wires and cables, ANKA-Draht has been using its 17,000 square meter facility for the last 35 years almost exclusively in order to serve the cable industry, which in turn packages and insulates the product according to their customers needs. Since the qualitative demands placed upon the automotive, medical, defense, and electronics industries correspond to higher standards, it is especially important for ANKA-Draht, as a secondary supplier, to carry out an enormous inspection effort to ensure the required product performance, which naturally leads to certifications such as DIN EN ISO 9001 as well as VDA 6.
In order to reach and maintain the strict certification requirements, ANKA-Draht, based in Neunburg vorm Wald, has been using a system for quality assurance especially coordinated with their own requirements since the end of 2004. In addition to the demand to install an automatic, complete traceability/bin monitoring system with specially printed labels, the cost-performance ratio was also a fundamental factor in the choice of a software provider. Due to these demands, the number of computer-aided quality assurance (CAQ) firms that were to be considered was significantly narrowed already at the beginning of the search. After the first comparisons at "Control", the quality control trade fair at Sinnsheim, and subsequent presentations with detailed product comparisons by three possible software vendors, ANKA-Draht decided quickly for CAQ AG Factory Systems.
The background of the task of labeling was a custom-developed control mechanism which – up until then implemented manually – provided for systematic quality maintenance in an efficient manner. Since a 100% check of the produced elements was not required, every machine operator at the beginning of a batch was supplied with a certain number of labels, which were visibly attached to the pieces produced at that time. The labels contained the name of the batch, the amount, as well as the time of the production and the name of the responsible party. Since the labels were given out in smaller amounts than the actual production, new labels were needed during the production run. These labels could be requested in connection with a quality check of the current production and in turn be used for a certain time period, until again a quality control check with subsequent new request for labels occurred.
This highly efficient, proven method was also to be utilized with the future software-supported quality assurance, but without having to deal with the necessary time expenditure any longer. With the proviso that the printer that was already being used for this purpose be integrated into the automated system, the technicians from CAQ AG Factory Systems were given one of the devices at a very early stage of negotiations.
Within just three weeks CAQ AG Factory Systems developed a module for interfacing with the printing devices at each of the six checking stations, which, after the collection of data within the system, triggered the automatic printing of labels with all desired data. "This possibility for recurrent quality assurance proved itself as effective," reports the manager of the quality control department, Mario Donat. "Why should we have given up this control mechanism?
Rather, we wanted our future software provider to find a way to integrate this mechanism into its already existing system, and for that reason it was, and is, absolutely the right decision that we are doing business with CAQ AG Factory Systems.
Furthermore, the fact that our company, despite this special accomplishment, are not acquiring a complete, mammoth system, but rather could start with selected modules, convinced us completely that we had found the correct software provider."
Presently ANKA-Draht KG uses ten licenses of the core program "CAQ-Compact.Net® - quality planning, inspection, and analysis." with the supplements "Mail.Net® – QM mail assistant", which in the case of quality problems informs the respective responsible party of the problem via email, the form generator "Form.Net® - graphic form generator", which produces the control reports and the quality control plan in a clear and concise paper form as well as the specially developed printed labels. Complementing two additional recently integrated licenses from CAQ-Compact.Net®, the entire production and inspection process will be managed and assured with help of the CAQ AG quality control software by the end of 2005.
Expansions, such as the direct involvement of top management in the auditing of the corresponding key data, are already planned. "If possible, everyone in the company should have access to the system," explains quality control manager Donat.
"The software is user-friendly to such a degree that already after the shortest orientation users can utilize all the program’s special features which simply helps reduce the workload."
Corresponding to the cost-performance ratio which is emphasized at ANKA-Draht, multiple use of the system would not lead to higher costs, since the CAQ AG Factory Systems licenses are not, as is standard in the software industry, tied to workstations, but rather to users, which allows for alternating use in unlimited workstations. It therefore remains to be seen whether ANKA-Draht Insinger KG will continue to challenge CAQ AG Factory Systems with new requisitions.
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.
