Hand-picked, pre-packaged, pre-labelled and sub-assembled industrial components and fasteners ensure component quality and production efficiency.

Simplify assembly and reduce production costs

 

By creating fully packaged kits at our centre you shorten the production process on-site for your company. The kits contain the precise amount of components needed, bagged, barcoded, and quality checked.

Efficient kits of quality parts integrate into your overall manufacturing process. By adopting this service our client OEMs have saved days on typical assemblies of complex manufactured goods. Kitting can range from a relatively simple pre-bundling of quality-checked parts, to a highly prepared ‘phased assembly system’ with hundreds of components ready for a sophisticated production line construction.

Sub-assembly allows OEMs to improve final assembly efficiency by providing ready assembled components for integration into the manufacturing process. You get the flexibility and discretion to plug components into modular cell and production line processes with ease.

The service an efficient way to have scaleable and flexible production process, eliminating the need for excess production space in-house, and a simple way to accommodate surges in production demand.

Kitting benefits for production

— Easy stock handling and ordering.
— Reduce production line headcount.
— Full ISO-certified kitting and assembly.
— Frees up production space & storage.
— Packaged in dedicated, optimised work areas.
— Shrink transport costs.
— Lower supplier count with consolidated sourcing.

Inventory benefits of sub-assembly

— Lean inventory: Order only what you require at the time.
— Never worry about stock-outs.
— Quality control checked and managed.
— Ensure component compatibilities.
— Eliminate obsolete items.
— Reduce production line headcount.
— Decrease paperwork and purchasing activity.

Want to delve more into how kits and sub-assembled parts for specific points in assembly line production unlocks a slew of benefits? Our article on the key benefits of kitting and assembly for manufacturers dives into it more.

Kitting in an optimised, fully ISO-certified, work centre

Acorn has an ISO certified kitting centre, conforming to the latest 2015 edition for quality management (ISO 9001:2015), and environmental management (ISO 14001:2015). These latest quality certificates ensure you have a supplier in Acorn that has a more robust focus on risk mitigation, on quality assurance, and on fostering innovation through continuous performance evaluation.

Parts are at hand to add to and complete a full kit SKU within our professional warehouse, staffed by skilled logistics personnel, and comprising tried, tested and optimised picking, packing and QA technologies and processes.

Acorn have deep experience in developing and delivering custom packaged kits to OEM manufacturers that are deemed part of the UK's critical manufacturing infrastructure. These kits can be made of hundreds of component parts, with exceptionally high standards in tolerances and quality control. They can be provided boxed, and palleted, but also custom packaged for further efficiencies and ease of assembly when they reach the business end of an OEM production line.

As part of our Aftermarket solution in particular, we have the option for kits to have tools incorporated within them, which provides even quicker, ready-to-go maintenance and upgrade solutions for complex OEM products.

An experienced kitting solution provider is essential to success

A timely supply of parts in a complex assembly process is essential. Especially when dealing with a legion of components, having them supplied in pre-sorted kits to augment the assembly process can pay dividends with a host of efficiency and quality benefits. This is why kitting has become an increasingly popular solution to deploy within complex assembly environments.

But kitting errors can amplify problems and grind assembly to a halt. This is why using a trusted, experienced and quality supply chain partner is indispensable to operations for a high value OEM manufacturer.

An experienced kitting provider has experience in eliminating errors and designing the kitting process to be as successful and efficient as possible. Factors (as defined by Fager, Hanson, Medbo & Johansson) involved in kitting design, preparation and execution influencing success and quality includes:

 

— Location: where is this workspace within the production system, what component availability and quality testing access does it have?

— Preparation: how experienced are the personnel involved in performing kitting work to completion, including familiarity and competence in the tasks necessary?

— Storage policy: how efficient is components organisation in the stores/warehouse, and the picking and packing of components at the kitting preparation site?

— Batching policy: what is the number of orders handled as part of completing the kitting work cycle, and what is the QA process for delivery?

— Storage packaging: how appropriate and fit-for-purpose is the packaging for stored items?

— Kit carrier/container: how well designed is this, taking into account appropriate user design, value-for-money, and sustainability factors?

— Picking information system: how efficient, embedded and 'battle-tested' is the picking information, tracking and completion confirmation process?

— Error/correction communication: have the processes and approach for identifying, reporting and correcting kit errors been thought through and structured for adherence?

 

All the above factors have an impact on kitting errors: from the wrong component required by the kit, a missing component, a defective or damaged component that can result in manufacturing error, the incorrect quantity of components whether over-supply or under-supply, or an incorrect positioning of a component within the kit.

The key takeaways from analysing these factors for a successful kitting solution: quality of kitting assembly processes (facilitated by experienced operators, and embedded technologies with well-adhered to frameworks), along with well-designed packaging are crucial to getting the best kitting solution and making it work in your production environment.

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