Close dialogue behind valuable collaboration on components for Scania lorries

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Quality control is comprehensive and everything must work smoothly right from the start when Vald. Birn manufactures brake components for Scania lorries. RIVAL has been chosen as a subcontractor for the machining of components because of its high quality, reliability of delivery and excellent communication.

Vald. Birn (BIRN) manufactures over 20,000 brake components for Scania lorries with drum brakes every year. The company is fully responsible for product maturation, casting, machining and surface treatment of the components. Everything must comply with TS 16949, which is the automobile industry’s extended version of ISO certification.

The machining of the many thousands of components in the coming period will be done at RIVAL because BIRN requires extra capacity.

Trial task was crucial
The collaboration between BIRN and RIVAL started a year ago, when BIRN had some prototypes manufactured at RIVAL. “With regard to the task, it confirmed for us that RIVAL can meet our quality and reliability of delivery requirements, and that there is really good chemistry and communication between our people,” says Method Department Manager Henrik Telling from BIRN. “This has been crucial in our decision to invite RIVAL to be part of this job, which is very comprehensive and will run for the year.”

High quality requirements
Scania and BIRN’s other customers in the automobile industry have high quality requirements, which covers for example, hardness measurement, x-ray examinations and ultrasound scanning of pre-machined components. In addition, a production test sample is prepared, where among other things, statistical process control of the dimension tolerances is carried out. The test sample is sent to Scania, as documentation that the stipulated components meet the stipulated requirements.

RIVAL approved by Scania
It also means that the subcontractors that BIRN uses must meet stringent requirements. Scania has also visited RIVAL’s premises and has approved them as a subcontractor. “The optimum is of course that RIVAL also becomes TS 16949 certified. But they are well on the way because of their ISO certification and because they have shown that they can meet the more stringent requirements,” says Henrik Telling.

Quality and delivery in place
”The first 700 components are now machined at RIVAL, and we’re very satisfied with both the quality and delivery of these components. Now we will continue like this with the next many thousands of components,” says Henrik Telling.

Good communication is a prerequisite
It has been crucial for BIRN that there has been good chemistry and communication with the people at RIVAL right from the start. “We’ve built up a small matrix organisation on this project, which ensures that there is rapid clarification of questions or uncertainties, says Henrik Telling. “That we have good dialogue at all levels is a crucial parameter in our collaboration. Things must go smoothly during the daily work when we have to meet such tight deadlines. It functions really well here together with RIVAL.”

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Close collaboration on the optimisation of components

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In recent years, machined component developer and manufacturer RIVAL has collaborated closely with the engineering company R&D on the technical production optimisation of several new components.

For engineering company R&D, involving RIVAL as a partner on development projects has been the obvious choice on several occasions. “We have had several opportunities to use RIVAL’s competencies, and to exchange and sound out ideas with them in technical production areas during the development of design and construction of new components,” says R&D Key Account Manager, Daniel Schou Jensen. “Because RIVAL already collaborates with several of our customers, it means that from the very beginning, they very often have a really good understanding of the customer’s requirements and expectations.”

Exchanging and sounding out ideas together
Employees from RIVAL, R&D and the customers that they are collaborating with, meet up on an ongoing basis, and exchange and sound out ideas when they collaborate on projects. Afterwards, they work further on the design, construction and optimisation of the components. During the process, RIVAL will often offer R&D valuable criticism, which on an ongoing basis, helps to optimise the products that are being developed, especially in the technical production area.

RIVAL’s key competencies
Likewise, Daniel Schou Jensen sees the benefits of collaboration with RIVAL. “At R&D we have a lot of competency in design and construction, and we also have extensive insight into technical production,” says Daniel Schou Jensen. “But at RIVAL, technical production is a key competency, which means their ability to exchange and sound out ideas is very valuable to us, because we want the strongest team in relation to the customer.

“Since RIVAL at the same time, can work with the production of component’s for 0-series production and prototypes for new products, they will often acquire valuable knowledge, which both we and the end customer can beneficially utilise in the further optimisation process.”

RIVAL’s DNA
RIVAL Sales Manager Christian Aarup has closely followed the collaboration with R&D and customers for several years. He confirms that it is precisely these tasks where ideas are exchanged and sounded out, where RIVAL has great strength, primarily because of RIVAL’s competence and culture. “My colleagues can, and have the ambition and the desire to present optimisation proposals and improvements,” says Christian. “We see many benefits in both collaborating with an engineering company like R&D and the end customer, and through that, help to develop a solution for the customer, which is optimised in all areas.”

Better to be included earlier
Looking forward, Daniel Schou Jensen can see several advantages in including RIVAL earlier on in the development process. “It will give us better opportunities to take into consideration any technical production challenges that we encounter.” He continues: “I’m sure that we will also in the future utilise RIVAL as a partner and thus together, we will help customers get the best possible exchanging and sounding out of ideas, and solutions.”

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Dan-Web Machinery

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Shared understanding behind the valuable exchange and sounding out of ideas

Machinery manufacturer Dan-Web Machinery A/S has collaborated with RIVAL for over ten years. The valuable collaboration is built on good chemistry, shared understanding and the profitable exchange and sounding out of ideas.

It is a Tuesday morning, and RIVAL employees have driven to Galten, to visit machinery manufacturer Dan-Web at its 10,000 m2 industrial facility. Dan-Web Machinery A/S develops and manufactures machinery and equipment for the manufacture of airlaid products, which are soft and absorbing nonwoven materials, which are included in products like diapers and sanitary towels. The company has over 39 years of experience and throughout its existence, it has focused extensively on innovative, quality solutions.

Excellent collaboration
I meet with two engineers, Kenn Brown Petersen and Morten Pouli-Rich from Dan-Web and project manager Benny Sørensen from RIVAL’s production engineering department. It is immediately apparent that there is good chemistry between the three men. RIVAL has now been an established partner for Dan-Web for over ten years, and there is room for small talk. However, the
talk is primarily about the actual joint project, where RIVAL is manufacturing parts for Dan-Web’s forming head, which shall be supplied on a new Forming Line to the USA.

Shared understanding
We take a walk around the production area together and the discussion becomes animated, while Kenn and Morten explain in an engaged manner about the machines and components we pass along the way. It is clearly apparent that RIVAL’s many years of collaboration with Dan-Web has meant they have built up a very good knowledge of their products, and the parties have a shared understanding of what Dan-Web wants the end result to be for their customers. “At RIVAL, it’s an important factor for us that when we provide proposals for the optimisation of the technical production of their products, that we have precisely this
thorough knowledge, and thus can bring input which is precisely spot on at Dan-Web and supports their line,” says Benny.

Valuable exchange and sounding out of ideas
The two Dan-Web designers also believe that it is a great advantage that RIVAL is very familiar with their products and company. “If we have a design or technical production challenge, and we assess that getting RIVAL’s input would be beneficial, they love to meet up, and meet up quickly to exchange and sound out ideas. We have often had visits by Glenn, Ole and Benny from RIVAL and received valuable ideas about how we can optimise a design,” says Kenn, while we look closer at several of the hammer mills being worked on in the production area. We halt next to several large rollers with a paper-like material, which is currently being beaten to single fibres in the hammer mill before being blown into the forming head and further processed for the final airlaid products.

Improvement proposal
“At the same time,” Morten adds. “We also find that without even being asked, RIVAL will come to us with proposals for improvements, if they for example in their production process, come across a design or tolerance that can be changed beneficially. We’re very open to their proposals, since we constantly work with the optimisation and improvement of our products. And because they know us so well, they know what direction we want to take the development process in.”

Thank you for today
The tour of production is about to finish, and Kenn, Morten and Benny agree, right at the end before Benny returns to RIVAL, to brief production on the details, which have been agreed on at Dan-Web Machinery A/S.

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