S+P Samson

CASE STUDY
STRUCTOBOND the permanent ones

1,800 times through the wash

with an adhesive label.
Tray identification at the
Kennametal drill plant at
Vohenstrauss, Germany

Remarkable strength.
Remarkable strength.
Scepticism turned to
enthusiasm. Structobond
labels convince customer.
Wear-resistant special and standard tool The Kennametal plant at Vohenstrauss is the largest
solutions for demanding applications are
manufacturing plant for drills in Europe. Both high-quality
Kennametals speciality. At the Vohen-
strauss drill plant, the employees convert standard drills and customised precision drills are
carbide blanks to high-quality precision manufactured here. The small trays holding the drills are
drills in a complex machining process
identified using new Structobond labels to prevent
using CNC grinding machines. More than
30 percent are customised for individual
mix-ups during the multi-stage production process.
customers. To the non-specialist, many of
these drills look similar. However, there is
a difference in the cut, in the geometries
and in the coatings, they are optimised for
their individual applications. The blanks go
through very specific machining steps de-
pending on the target application, explains
Dirk Stankowski, Head of Quality Assurance
at the Vohenstrauss plant.

Poka Yoke for trays

The blanks for each order are arranged

in small aluminium trays. The order docu-
ments and the tray stay together on their
way through production. The specialists on
the modern CNC machines receive their or-
der documents and the raw material, take
the trays from a specified storage location
and start grinding. Orders often require
several process steps until the complex
grinding, radiusing and marking operations
have been completed. At the end, trays and Satisfied: Plant Manager Thomas Reindl (l.) and Head of Quality Dirk Stankowski (r.)
drills go through a washing facility where with a labelled tray (Kennametal Vohenstrauss).

Plant Manager Thomas Reindl says about Structobond:

For us, the best feature of the Structobond solution is that we can improve
quality and customer satisfaction as central parameters further and measurably
without any changes to the process.
 About Kennametal
Kennametal an industrial technology leader for over 75 years, helps customers
who expect top performance in demanding environments to achieve productivity
gains. The company offers innovative, wear-resistant products, application
technology and services, supported by advanced material science and serves
customers in 60 countries in many different sectors such as the aviation industry,
road building and mining, the energy sector, industrial production, transport and
infrastructure. With its around 14,000 employees the company achieves sales of
nearly 3 billion US Dollars. The Kennametal plant in Vohenstrauss, Germany is the
largest manufacturing plant for drills in Europe. In three shifts and on six days a
week, more than two million drills are manufactured here each year.

they are cleaned using ultrasound, damp
and vacuum cleaning processes to remove
all residue. Before entering this washing
facility, the order documents and the tray
are separated and then re-allocated after
cleaning, QA Manager Dirk Stankowski
describes the details. A work step that
involves a risk: Analyses have shown that,
on occasion, trays and order documents
were allocated incorrectly after cleaning.
Drills went through coating processes that
were supposed to be used for a different
order. We therefore needed Poka Yoke
a concept that enabled us to eliminate
mix-ups altogether, said Dirk Stankowski.
Trials were conducted with different iden-
tification methods. However, these were
either too time-consuming to attach or the
identification on the aluminium trays did
not withstand the washing facility.
The solution came from
S+P Samson
A telephone conversation with identi-
fication specialists S+P Samson GmbH
eventually brought the solution. With
Structobond, plastic labels are perma-
nently enclosed in an epoxy resin adhesive
and withstand even complex cleaning
processes, explains Brigitte Gtz, Project
Manager for Structobond at S+P Samson.
Adhesive labels in an industrial washing
facility? Initially, people at Kennametal were
sceptical. For testing purposes, an alumi-
nium tray was labelled and run through
the washing facility again and again. After
300 cycles the barcode and the full text
on the label were still clearly legible we
were already convinced at that point. In the
meantime, the test tray and the label have
survived 1,800 cycles, more than four times
the number of cycles a tray would normally
run through during its service life, reports
a satisfied Dirk Stankowski.
The nearly 4,500 aluminium trays which
are in circulation are currently being
marked permanently with Structobond
labels. Application begins with roughening
and cleaning the surface of the tray. After
the label has been applied, the Structo
adhesive is heated in an oven to 160 C for
15 minutes to harden it. A simple process
which can be carried out at the plant. The
labels are supplied - printed with barcodes
and full text - by S+P Samson.
When a tray is taken out of the tray
inventory to fill it with blanks for an order,
the barcode will be scanned from its
Structobond label in the future. At the
station, barcode and full text are duplicat
ed on a standard self-adhesive label and
stuck to the order documents. Tray and
order documents are now married for
all phases of production, including the
washing process, ensuring error-free
allocation at all times.
Paperless manufacturing,
integration of service providers
and other options
The identification of trays at Kennametal
is now working well but Plant Manager
Thomas Reindl and his team are already
thinking about other potential applications.
Of course, we presented this method to
the other companies within the Kenname-
tal Group. We are also thinking about how
we can eliminate order documents in the
future and retrieve order information and
machining instructions on the machines
via the IT system using a barcode scan - in-
cluding lot traceability, describes the Plant
Manager. For us, the best feature of the
Structobond solution is that we can im-
prove quality and customer satisfaction as
central parameters further and measurably
without any changes to the process.
STRUCTOBOND the permanent ones.
Sticks. Holds. Stays.
The innovative labels are based on a new technology (patent pending) for the
permanent identification of tools, containers and bins. It includes an epoxy resin
adhesive that has been applied in web form, enclosing the data carrier and fixing it
securely. The special Structobond labels withstand extreme conditions (such as
sterilisation processes or industrial washing facilities) and are still readable even
after many cycles. They are particularly suitable for pharmaceutical and medical
technology, but also for many industrial applications.

Remarkable strength.
Everything we do is guided by our philosophy.
S+P Samson are the specialists for strong solutions for rough ambient
conditions. Worldwide. Our customers appreciate our strong innovative
capacity and our individual solutions.

Because we are not satisfied with standard solutions and compromises.

We develop complete identification concepts which have a positive impact
on the production and logistics of our customers. Innovative, purposeful,

www.mariabander.de
focusing on our customers. With a unique selection of new, specific and
unparalleled labels. S+P Samson: Remarkable strength.

Creation:

If innovative technology
for permanent identification is of
interest to you, contact us by email
or call us.

S+P Samson GmbH

Industriestrae 32
86438 Kissing, Germany
Telephone: +49 8233 846-0
Fax: +49 8233 846-299
Email: info@sp-samson.com
www.sp-samson.com

Remarkable strength.