Bossard Inc., Proving Productivity with Fastening Technology

October 11, 2024

By Krystie Johnston

Making a quality product is critical for most manufacturing applications. From delicate electronics and optics to durable automotive and rail projects to dynamic industrial applications – connections matter. Though the size and type of fastener may vary, Bossard Inc. has developed cutting-edge solutions to support them all.

Bossard Inc. has been a pillar of the manufacturing industry for more than 190 years, solving fastening challenges in electrical and mechanical engineering in many industries. Manufacturers around the world rely on the quality of their products, services, and solutions to boost their productivity. In this article, three experts with more than four decades of combined experience at Bossard Inc. discuss a few of their popular offerings, including Smart Factory Logistics, Smart Factory Assembly, and their Expert Test Services.

Bossard Inc.’s Smart Factory Logistics

Bossard Inc. has distributed fasteners to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for decades, and during that time, they developed working knowledge of how to best-manage their inventory of more than 200,000 parts. With this wisdom, they created Smart Factory Logistics: tailored solutions that help their customers manage their own inventory of small parts. By digitalizing the logistics of managing these parts and using technology and data to continually evolve, Bossard Inc. leverages the fundamentals of Industry 4.0 and improves efficiency and productivity for their customers.

Watch this video to get a better understanding about automating your B- and C-parts management with Bossard Inc.’s smart logistics solutions with Bossard Inc.’s Smart Factory Logistics solutions:

Scott Hunt, Smart Factory Solutions Project Manager at Bossard Inc. explains, “Smart Factory Logistics started out as what we call a ‘Two Bin System’ or ‘Barcode System’. And now, with the app, we are on our third version of the scale system. We keep improving the technology. It is now wireless, and it can go just about anywhere. We have, from a six-kilogram scale all the way to up a full pallet scale, which is 1,000-kilogram max. They can all be tied together, and the inventory can be monitored 24/7.”

From the Part to the Cloud

Essentially any form of fastener (screws, nuts, bolts, washers, cable ties, wires, adhesives, etc.) that a customer wants to have real-time inventory of, can be placed into one of Bossard Inc.’s Smart Bins – which operates by weight – and be accurately monitored down to one gram. “I have seen adhesives in the bins.” says Eric Boyson, Smart Factory Logistics Specialist at Bossard Inc. “I have seen non-uniformed sized foam. We designed a much larger bin to fit across two scales, but instead of counting it [the pieces of foam] we reordered based on total weight, so it ended up working for the customer.”

Bossard Inc.’s SmartBin Technology gives customers an accurate picture of what inventory they have, and alerts them when they need to reorder, keeping operations streamlined and transparent. “The inventory can be monitored 24/7,” says Hunt. “There are motion sensors in the scales, that, anytime anyone adds a part or removes a part, it triggers the scale to send a signal. We have real-time information that is uploaded into our ARIMS (Automated Replenishment Inventory Management System), which is our software that we design and maintain internally,” he adds.

Hunt says that this software can also be used by Bossard Inc. and their customers to produce reports about their inventory, and that this information can also be connected through an electronic data exchange, making it easy for customers to keep track of their inventory within their own system. With the software application, customers can determine a set reorder point and reorder quantity, and because of the digitalization of the scales, the app is able to calculate when the bin needs to be refilled. Bossard Inc.’s SmartBin technology is even capable of accounting for the time it will take to receive these parts from the supplier. Everything is tailored to what the customer needs.

Bossard Inc.’s SFL is popular among startups whose processes are just developing, and helpful to businesses who want to improve existing operations. “We have also done time studies with customers to look at their actions and how they are bringing their parts to the line,” adds Boyson. For this, he visits the customer to see where their material is stocked and where it needs to be moved throughout the facility. “We walk with the customer step by step, tracking how long this takes, who is doing what, and how many people are doing it? And we produce a way to streamline how that material is brought to the line.”

SmartBin, SmartBin Cloud, and SmartBin Label. What Does All That Mean?

Rounding out this technology are Bossard Inc.’s digital labels that organize the fasteners in the production facility and help with inventory management. “It is an e-paper display technology, and it will show the customer the part number and the description. It has a gray or white background with dark lettering. When that bin is on order, those colours flip, so that from a distance, anyone can see that that bin is on order. And, if you go closer to it where you can read it, there is going to be a delivery quantity and an expected delivery date right on that label,” Hunt explains.

Hunt adds that the digital labels also have buttons that can perform several functions beyond the part number and description. A shopping cart button (which would be disabled when attached to the scale or smart bin), can be pressed to indicate a part needs to be reordered. This would be useful for parts that may be too large to fit on the pallet scale or not used frequently enough to warrant having a Scale. In this scenario, when the reorder is delivered, the customer would press a checkmark button, clearing the order and re-initiating the cycle. This function would happen automatically when using the label with the scale and connects to the ARIMS mentioned above for both scenarios.

Digitalizing Your Manufacturing Processes Further with Smart Factory Assembly

Bossard Inc. takes this technology to the next level by leveraging it to optimize assembly applications within a factory. Not only does it optimize the logistics of maintaining and managing fasteners, but it also helps streamline the assembly process. With Smart Factory Assembly, Bossard Inc. helps OEMs create digital and smart work instructions while reducing errors to practically zero. By connecting devices such as tools, cameras, lights, and entire workbenches, data can be optimized to identify bottlenecks and improve workflows. Traceability and transparency are baked into the solution – from individual workstations to the entire production process – making factories future-proof.

Take a look at this video explaining how automating your logistics system can optimize your strategy and reduce costs:

“Smart Factory Assembly really helps with the assembly portion. It makes sure you are doing it right. A lot of companies are still working with paper-based instructions, or maybe someone goes to a filing cabinet or reads from a book. With SFA, we try and streamline the process so that they [the worker] are going through the same steps every time. And they are also confirming some certain key points during the assembly process that need to be accounted for,” explains Boyson.

With many industries facing labour shortages and a lack of skilled workers, Bossard Inc.’s Smart Factory Assembly is a solution that can ease these pain points. “With turnover that a lot of companies struggle with,” adds Doug Jones, Applications Engineer at Bossard Inc. North America, “having these digitized work instructions and these things set up with this SFA-type technology, you can bring somebody new in, and within a couple of days, you can have them up to speed and working very efficiently with all this technology and mistake-proofing.”

Bossard Inc.’s Additional Services

Bossard Inc.’s holistic view to developing product solutions doesn’t stop there. Their Assembly Technology Expert services improve production more by offering expertise and support in the design, optimization, and education of fastening technologies. “When we deal with engineers who are designing products, and if they are running into problems – maybe they do not know what kind of fastener they need to put something together, or what is going to work the best – they will reach out to us, and we will help them to understand what is available. Because it is not just nuts and bolts and washers,” says Jones.  

With almost 200 years of experience, Bossard Inc. is an expert in fasteners and the technology and value-added services that go with it. Their experts also help their customers design and optimize their products and educate them on fastening technologies. “We do application testing, or joint analysis,” says Jones. “We have some very specific equipment that has the capability of measuring the clamp load as it [a critical joint] is being assembled. Most manufacturers do not have that capability. We have equipment that can measure the stretch in the bolt ultrasonically when we tighten it down, to tell them exactly how much clamp load is in that joint.”

Jones says that Bossard Inc.’s testing facility is in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Customers in the U.S. and Canada who are interested in these services can send parts there to be tested, or their experts can travel to their location and perform these tests on site. They have additional Expert Test Services, such as tensile testing, hardness testing, dimensional testing, thread acceptability, and more.

Conclusion

Bossard Inc. is an expert in industrial fastening and assembly technology. Their products, solutions, and services improve productivity for companies around the world by optimizing processes in line with Industry 4.0 and smart manufacturing.

Find out more about what they have to offer: Bossard Inc.

Related Story

Bossard Showcases Advanced Fastening Technology at FABTECH 2024 in Orlando, Florida

Bossard Inc., a leader in industrial fastening and assembly technology solutions, announces a live demonstration of its innovative fastening technology at the 2024 FABTECH show in Orlando, Florida.

Join them at Booth #S29161 on October 15-17, 2024, from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM at the Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, FL, to explore advanced manufacturing, automation, and digital transformation. Schedule a 1-1 demo during the tradeshow.