Case Study
Company Profile
Company: Viscor
Size: €30M
Location: Canada
Machine: Planar P120.50
Founded in 1952 by immigrant electrical engineer Daniel Wiener, Viscor is Canada’s largest independent LED lighting and metal fabrication manufacturer. With over 65 years of continued growth, Viscor has progressed from a humble 4,000 square foot facility to a 1/4 million square foot factory and is home to the Visioneering, Certolux, TBR and Canflex brands.
Their lighting brands specialise in architectural,commercial and medical luminaires with over 300 product families and tailored solutions. Viscor’s metal fabrication brand, Canflex, specializes in custom engineered metal fabrication projects that are large or small. Typical customers include OEMs, electrical contractors, specifiers, property owners, end users and distributors within the industrial, commercial, medical and architectural markets.
“The InspecVision system gives us the ability to compare our First Off and Last Off output to real time digital CAD data.”
— Santino Nemi, Chief Operating Officer, Viscor
Figure 1: Viscor factory, Toronto, Canada.
Santino Nemi, Chief Operating Officer at Viscor, explained that the company decided to upgrade from manual inspection methods using tape measures, calipers and matching to template in order to improve accuracy and efficiency. Mr. Nemi said that “to provide consistent quality and service we must avoid operator subjectivity and keep up with production demands. The InspecVision system gives us the ability to compare our First Off and Last Off output to real time digital CAD data.
Figure 2: Production lines at the Viscor factory in Toronto.
Viscor learned about the InspecVision Planar machine at the Euroblech exhibition in Germany before there was any North American market presence and recognized how revolutionary the concept would be to the industry.
Since installing the Planar machine, Mr. Nemi stated that “Viscor has saved between 5 and 10 minutes per part on over thousands of different parts” and they can now inspect 300 to 500 parts per week.
Figure 3: Viscor operator measuring a part on the Planar machine.
According to Mr. Nemi “before using the InspecVision machine it would have required having a designated full time professional to inspect the parts thoroughly. With the InspecVision, the operators can check their own parts swiftly without compromising quality”. Their skilled CNC Turret and Laser Machine operators use the Planar machine on a regular basis. They have found the machine to be very user friendly which has made it easy to train all the operators.
Mr. Nemi also commented that “due to the ease of use we’ve been able to take on a higher percentage of thorough checks. The InspecVision also allows us to continue WIP inspections as prescribed.”
Viscor had no dif culty justifying the investment in the Planar due to the instant time saving benefits and the reduction in operator error. In fact, the payback period on their investment was less than one year. In addition, improving their accuracy control methods has allowed Viscor to take on more work and create consistent quality that is recognized by their partners and customers. Mr. Nemi said “the direct bene ts include more time to run products without corrections, a reduction in scrap metal waste and quick turnaround times.”
“Before using the InspecVision machine it would have required having a designated full time professional to inspect the parts thoroughly. With the InspecVision, the operators can check their own parts swiftly without compromising quality.”
— Santino Nemi, Chief Operating Officer, Viscor
Figure 4: Large part being measured on the Planar P120.50.
Key benefits of the Planar machine include its suitability for the factory oor and that minimal maintenance is required. Mr. Nemi can vouch for this and said “the machine has held up very well against a few bumps & bangs. No special environment or workspace was needed or created. The Planar machine having no moving parts results in fewer problems. In the past twelve years, we’ve required support on two occasions. On the few occasions that we’ve needed support, our requests were addressed quickly, and service people were great to work with.”
Viscor regularly host factory tours with industry partners, suppliers and customers and always include a demonstration of the “user friendly” Planar machine. They have over a dozen at sheet turrets, lasers and coil fed punching machines and have a lot of short (JIT) runs plus operate 3 shifts.
As each operator is responsible for checking First and Last Offs plus intermediate checks on longer runs, Viscor says the main benefits they have experienced since installing the Planar are both the reduction in downtime measuring and checking against templates and less human error.
Figure 5: Planar software.
To find out more information about the Planar and how it can help your business; please download our online brochure and contact our sales team at sales@inspecvision.com.