HAMILTON, Ontario, May 09, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NGen, the non-profit organization leading Canada’s Advanced Manufacturing Supercluster – has announced an investment of $250,000 to support a project led by Kepstrum (Toronto, ON) and partners Stackpole (Mississauga, ON) and Armo-Tool (London, ON). The consortium will build an advanced end-of-line tester for Stackpole’s bushing components, which are a critical subcomponent of their hydraulic powertrain solutions.
Within the Canadian automotive manufacturing industry, manual end-of-line test-to-pass is a commonly used practice that is blind to manufacturing processes and its day-to-day variations. As a result, manufacturers are experiencing a heightened level of recalls due to unidentified product failures during production. Furthermore, automotive manufacturing companies are having to develop new components without the historical iterations for reference due to the rapid speed of change in vehicle electrification.
The pilot system will utilize the analytical algorithms, developed in the prior feasibility study, in order to correlate the gap-to-failure of parts that passed the end-of-line production test system to variation in material properties and critical manufacturing parameters in the manufacturing process. The pilot system will also be able to perform design limit tests as an end-of-line batch testing. This new and advanced multi-functional end-of-line tester is an industry-first that can detect compound production deficiencies which are not detected by current uncorrelated and parallel production quality control processes.
“NGen’s mission is to enable collaboration to build world leading advanced manufacturing capabilities in Canada,” said Jayson Myers, CEO, NGen. “This partnership between Kepstrum, Stackpole and Armo-Tool is a great example of how we can collaborate to deploy cutting edge innovations that benefit all partners and scale new technologies in real-world manufacturing environments.”
“This unique end-of-line test system will utilize the mathematical concept of ‘Uncertainty Quantification & Error Propagation’ developed in the prior Feasibility project, to inspire our industry to adopt the next generation of automotive manufacturing technology, enhancing our region’s reputation for manufacturing excellence” – Payman Kianpour, Kepstrum’s President
“We are again excited to utilize Kepstrum’s unique engineering methodology and software to now link manufacturing influences with functional performance test sequences to perform physics-based life assessments.” – Richard Muizelaar, Director Research and Innovation Stackpole - Fluid Power Solutions
“Our team at Armo is excited to combine cutting edge analysis with automation and precision tooling to create better powertrain solutions. Today’s automotive industry requires faster development and greater reliability. With our partners we will generate a new standard for product development excellence.” – Ben Whitney, Armo-Tool’s President
This project is funded by NGen under Canada’s Innovation Supercluster Initiative. To date, NGen has approved 166 projects with 374 industry partners, investing $236 million of Supercluster funds and leveraging $371 million in new R&D investments by industry. NGen investments have created 18 new companies, supported 45 new products and services and generated $1.92 billion in revenue and licensing deals for participating partners.
About NGen
NGen is the industry-led, not-for-profit organization that leads Canada’s Advanced Manufacturing Supercluster. Its mandate is to help build world-leading advanced manufacturing capabilities in Canada for the benefit of Canadians. NGen works to strengthen collaboration among its membership of more than 4,500 manufacturers, technology companies, innovation centres, and researchers, and provides funding and business support to industry-led initiatives that aim to develop, apply, or scale-up transformative manufacturing solutions in Canada for commercialization in global markets. www.ngen.ca
About Kepstrum
Kepstrum is the inventor of Product DNA and Intelligent Reliability Risk Reduction Methodology (IRM), designed to qualify new developments without history. Kepstrum’s core competency is in dynamics, fluid power and controls, applying IRM to functional products supporting Vehicle Electrification with extensive multi-physics libraries in electro-hydraulics, mechatronics, electronics, drives and controls.
About Stackpole
Stackpole International is a leading manufacturer of highly engineered fluid power solutions and powder metal technologies. With manufacturing facilities and technical centers throughout North America, Europe and Asia, Stackpole delivers high-quality, high-performance assemblies, components and systems for the Automotive Industry.
About Armo-Tool
Armo-Tool is a leading supplier of Stamping Dies, Precision Tooling, and Custom Automation and Fixturing for Manufacturing and Assembly. With over 30+ years of experience in the automation market, Armo-Tool will lead the build of the new and innovative end-of-line test system.
Media Contacts:
Robbie MacLeod
Robbie.macleod@ngen.ca
+1 (613)-297-3578
Siavash Kianpour
Siavash.kianpour@kepstrum.com
+1 (416)-509-9900
