Facilitate lean manufacturing through modularity

Danobat recently celebrated its 70th anniversary.^th Anniversary with major events for local authorities, retirees, employee families and students. Danobat Inc. President Manex Ochoteco attributes the company’s success to a committed Basque social culture. Photos courtesy of Danobat.

Breaking a job down into individual parts can be more efficient than tackling it as a whole. Danobat, a Basque OEM of special machinery, knows this only too well. Rather than developing its special machines from scratch for each job, the company says it uses 90% standard modules, while the remaining 10% is used for the customizations that determine whether a machine is suitable for a complicated aerospace project, energy application or other demanding field.

Earlier this year, I visited the Danobat campus just outside Elgoibar, a small town in the mountains of Spain’s Basque Country. Danel Epelde, Business Development Director at Danobat, and Manex Ochoteco, President of the U.S. corporate division of Danobat Inc., gave me a tour of the company’s newly renovated facilities. They explained how the company has reorganized its production halls to reflect the modularity of its machines, creating dedicated sub-areas to improve production and reduce lead times.

Modularity in manufacturing

Danobat has several production buildings on its premises in Elgoibar. Although each one is dedicated to a different type of machine, all have benefited from the company’s modernised production process.

The idea here used to be that all components of a machine were manufactured and assembled simultaneously. Each machinist had his own tool bench. But communication delays could slow down production.

Now, each area of ​​the hall is organized into teams that work together to manufacture the subassemblies and modules of their respective area. Ochoteco describes this as a very lean process, and also points out that the improved communication within the group means the teams can better inform managers of progress and request the necessary components for the next assembly. Danobat aims to test its modules during construction so that the final assembly is as close to a plug-and-play model as possible. This production model also supports simultaneous machine construction, as one area of ​​the hall that completes its task before the others can then start on its module for the next machine.

This process came with some teething issues while Danobat’s workforce adjusted (particularly at the height of COVID supply chain issues), but now, Epelde says, the process is reducing the company’s machine lead times by as much as 25%.

Although Danobat had a stand at BIEMH, no machines were exhibited under the Danobat label. According to management, this is because each machine is so unique that it makes little sense to send one to a trade fair as an “average” machine.

Common basis, individual solutions

This modularity also helps the company’s R&D team focus on specific solutions to specific customer challenges. As mentioned, many of the modules built into the machine can remain the same, eliminating the need to develop a completely new machine from scratch.

For example, Danobat developed a machine that uses lasers and grinding wheels to produce high-precision turbine blades for a large aerospace company. In another project, developing gearboxes for a wind energy company, Danobat was able to reuse many modules from the previous machine. Newly developed modules made up a small (but important) part of the machine.

But that doesn’t mean that IDEKO, Danobat’s R&D team, doesn’t take on bigger projects with more work. Currently, the team is developing automated solutions for machining aerospace parts made of carbon fiber. The aim of the project is to reduce the space required to machine these components and to reduce component waiting times. The difficulty lies in the tool paths, since reliably meeting aerospace tolerances in carbon fiber requires a lot of work in constant robot positioning. The R&D team is in close contact with its customer to ensure that the result meets their expectations.

According to Epelde, the company’s precision machines can last for decades. When retrofitting, the 90 percent of the machine’s parts that are the same are usually taken into account.

Partner in production

Sometimes certain requirements require specific expertise that the Danobat team does not yet have. In these cases, the company collaborates with or acquires companies that are more experienced in the field in order to benefit from their knowledge.

For example, Danobat works a lot with the railway industry. One of its most important projects is the development of underfloor lathes for profiling train wheels, and the company has good business relations with railway companies in the EU. However, attempts to expand into the US railway market have proven difficult because the company has to meet different government standards. To this end, Danobat recently acquired a Michigan-based company that itself has a similar underfloor lathe. The Michigan company has a better understanding of US customers and regulations, allowing its employees to take the lead in the market more effectively.

This idea applies to technology as well. Onboard connectivity software has become a key data source for manufacturers in recent years, and many wanted some sort of connectivity software for Danobat’s machines. To meet this need, Danobat bought a software startup company that acted as an internal connectivity software provider. Now Danobat can customize the software just as much as it customizes the hardware.

However, in order to gain a more comprehensive view of international markets, Danobat has also decided to expand and has established subsidiaries in those markets. These include Danobat Inc., which operates a technical center just outside of Chicago, Illinois. Here, the company conducts real-world part tests to demonstrate the feasibility of its machines to potential customers, while also acting as a service center for customers in the United States and Canada.

Ochoteco says all of this – the expansions and acquisitions of new companies to enter new markets, the focus on special machines and the modularity of the new production processes – results in a leaner company. “Sustainability is the priority, growth is the result,” he says, and that leanness is a big part of that financial sustainability. Financial stability, in turn, has led to customer confidence in Danobat and repeat business, as customers know the company can reliably support their special machines well into the future.