Client: EO Charging
EO Charging is one of Europe’s fastest growing companies. “Electricity Onlines” goal is to become the global leader in charging electric van, truck, bus and car fleets. They specialise in electric vehicle charging points for businesses or homes.
Funky Lemon were contacted by EO to laser cut their charging point electrical boxes. We were asked to cut multiple configurations for different products they supply. Orders started off small, however as EO became one of Europe’s fastest growing company’s orders soon went from hundreds of units to thousands every month. As we cut more and more units our methods became more and more refined and in turn we became more efficient.
TETHEREDS (DN15E)37,076
Mass Production of electrical enclosures
Products that Funky Lemon Help to Manufacture - EO MINI PRO 2, EO MINI EO BASIC, EO GENIOUS, EO HUB, EO TETHERED, EO THREE PHASE, Unpacking, Processing and Sorting Blank units (ABS Industrial enclosures) arrive to us by the pallet load and before we can proceed with cutting they need to be unpacked, processed and sorted. Each box is first removed from its cellophane wrap and the divided into lids and bases. Inside each unit is a DIN RAIL, captive screws and 4 screws to hold the DIN Rail in place. These three components are required to be separated from each other. We manufactured our own sorting machine to do this for us. All we needed to do was load the machine with the components and the different arrangements of sives would separate the 3 parts automatically. This machine saves us having to hand sort these parts and therefore saves us loads of time.
Quality Assurance
To assure the quality of our work we first inspected the ABS enclosures during the processing stage to pick out any damaged or scratched cases. This meant that we kept EOs products to the highest quality and that our customer could get refunded for enclosures that arrived damaged. To ensure quality during laser cutting and drilling we produced a variety of jigs for each specific product and process to make sure our work was accurate. The laser cutting jigs were design to hold maximum amount of units within our laser bed while allowing us to load and unload the laser seamlessly while guaranteeing 100% accuracy with placement. Once set up these jigs allowed us to cut all day long without any trouble. Our drilling Jigs ensure 100% accuracy when drilling as they ensure the ABS enclosures positioning under the drill bit each time.
Cutting EO MINI and MINI PRO
The EO MINI and MINI PRO units are produced using the same size standard electrical box however the MINI have a shallower lid compared with the MINI PRO units. These are EOS two most popular products. To cut these large quantities, quickly we made a custom jig that held 36 units at one time. This makes full use of the entire laser cutter bed, in turn allowing us to cut 36 boxes every time we load the machine. This minimises the amount of times we have to unload and reload the machine therefore making the process more efficient. Both the MINIS and MINI PROS have the same hole configuration therefore when changing from cutting one to the other all we have to do is raise or lower the bed to refocus the laser for the different lid depths.
Cutting EO TETHERD
The TETHERED units required a different hole configuration. However used the same base unit as the MINI PROS. Therefore we could cut the TETHERD products using the same jig with just an altered file allowing us to cut the different hole locations. TETHERDS also required a hold to be cut in the bottom of their lids. This was a challenge to overcome. Our creative solution involved a custom jig which allowed the boxes to be hung from the jig holding them flat with the laser bed allowing constant focus for the laser lens. This jig holds 12 lids as we were restrained by the lasers tray depth.
Cutting EO BASIC/GENIUS
Both these products use the curved base units. These boxes produced a challenging situation as the laser needs to cut on a flat surface to ensure constant lens focus. This led us to produce yet another custom jig to hang the boxes at the correct angle to allow us to cut the holes accurately. This was the most complex jig we designed for EO to achieve what they required. Another example of a creative solution to a challenging problem. Cutting EO HUBS The EO HUB products requires us to laser cut a variety of holes and slots into the side profile of the base. To achieve this we again designed a bespoke jig which allowed each enclosure base to hang within the laser and present the target face flat to the laser bed ready for cutting. This jig held 36 units and enabled us to cut hundreds of units each day precisely and efficiently.
EO HUBS
These also needed 3 evenly spaced holes put into the front of the ABS enclosure. Through testing we concluded that drilling these holes would result in a higher quality outcome over laser cutting. This was very important as these holes would be on the front face of the product. To achieve this we yet again made a custom jig which allowed us to load up the box and drill three holes one at a time with extreme precision. The jig included a stepping system which allowed us to position the box in 3 different locations using one jig. We could then drill 3 perfectly located holes each time.
Custom EO units We produced a few runs of EO MINIS with engraved EO logos on the front face. These particular units didn’t require backfilling as EO preferred the subtle raw engraved ABS look. Some of EOs customers requested to have their own logos put onto their charging points. To achieve this we laser etched the logos through a mask onto the face of the ABS enclosures. Next we spray painted the logos to backfill the etched lines. Once the mask was removed it left us with a high quality, high contrasting, and permanent logo.
Additional base marks
TEO also requested that we drill three indents onto the bases of the MINI and MINI PRO units. These three marks were to assist the fitter if requiring to drill an additional hole on site for bespoke requirments. The centre mark was also to act as a locator for fitting to ensure it is central. These indents needed to be about 0.5mm deep and not pass all the way through the material of the box. To increase our efficiency we manufactured a machine equipped with three drill motors. This machine allows all three indents to be drilled in one go. Therefore making the process 3X as fast. The drill bits pass through a stop wall by 0.5mm. When each base is pushed into the stop wall 3 holes are drilled rapidly and repeatedly to the desired depth.
Quality Control
Laser cutting this many products in quick succession means that we cannot check every product as it is manufactured. However we produced quality control jigs for each stage of the process to check the accuracy of every hole made. For example we have a jig that allows us to check the location of our drilled LED hole. This is very important as it has to line up perfectly with the circuit board installed within the box to allow the LED light to be clearly visible. The Jig allowed us to ensure our drilling jig hasn’t moved during use and intern checks the quality of these products. These jigs allow us to check each stage at the beginning and throughout each run to ensure consistency. Using this strict quality control system our waste is less than 1%.
Storage
We utilised our warehouse racking, within our workshop, to store both processes boxes ready for cutting and boxes which were to be processed for that days cutting. All stock arriving would be counted, unloaded and stored in one of the containers we have onsite until it is required to be processed prior to cutting. Storing large amount of raw stock ensured we always have stock and products could be manufactured in advance and shelf stock replensished ahead of any large orders. Once each box is completed we would re-package them within the original boxes and then store them in our secure container ready to be delivered.
Delivery
Using a combination of our own vehicles and local currier services contacts we are able to offer EO a reliable delivery service which helps make the process as seamless as possible and saves EO themselves having to arrange deliveries. Parts were delivered to various locations ready for the next stage of production. This could be one of three companies employed to spray paint the boxes or electrical commpanies for fitting of the internal electronics.
