oversees the creation of a number of Harman products including Studer,
Soundcraft, Intellivox and Martin Lighting.
At the time of TPi’s visit, the facility was going through a reorganisation,
with one of the main work areas being rearranged to make way for the
expansion of Harman’s automotive manufacturing.
Greeting us at the facility were Senior Manager for Materials and
Logistics, Istvan Prehoffer, and Senior Manager for Manufacturing
Engineering, László Bencsik. Prehoffer starting proceedings by giving a
brief histor y of the facility, which for over four decades has been involved
in various electronic manufacturing with a variety of companies, including
those in the telecommunications industr y.
When Harman purchased the space in 2016, the group repurposed the
31,000 sq metre warehouse to conform with safety standards. With years of
experience working with technology-based products, Harman had a huge
pool of experts within the Pécs region to call upon in order to get the ball
rolling with the state-of-the-art facility.
While walking through the warehouse, it was clear that quality
control was of utmost importance. From the floor shaker to test product
robustness, to the in-depth LED calibration, down to the individual circuit
board tests, no stone was left unturned in making sure that each product
met the grade. What was also impressive was how many manufacturing
processes took place within the facility. One was the manufacture of circuit
boards – done with the company’s own SMT line, which is tested rigorously
to create the highest quality product. These tests include various QC
checks, including X-ray machines to look at ever y individual solder joint.
“This means that the circuit boards are of a much higher standard when
they are sent into manufacturing,” commented Bencsik.
This level of detail remains even when the products go out the door, as
Prehoffer explained. “We want to ensure that ever ything leaving the facility
gets to the customer safely,” he said. “We have even run tests where we have
put sensors in our packages, to decipher any points of issue within transit
and how we might better prepare the products to ensure they are safe.”
Both Prehoffer and Bencsik had worked in the facility for some time
for other companies that had used the manufacturing plant. Like many oftheir colleagues, both men had wealth of knowledge about manufacturing
processes – a fact that Harman as a group clearly values. “We want to make
our processes as efficient as possible,” commented Prehoffer, gesturing to
a white board displaying several photographs from around the factor y. On
closer inspection, this ‘wall of fame’ proved as a record of new protocols,
which had been brought in via the suggestion of those working on the
warehouse floor. Any worker is able to suggest an idea that they think will
improve working procedures and product quality.
Moving to another sector of the warehouse, Bencsik walked TPi through
the multiple stages of the manually intensive process that goes into making
each Martin fixture. “In total we have 120 people working solely on the
production side the lighting fixtures,” he began. “We put them together from
scratch – it’s like a Swiss watch, only bigger.”
How much bigger? Well, the largest fixture in its range, the MAC Viper, is
made up of some 4,300 individual components. As you might imagine, to
piece these fixtures together involves a regimented training scheme that
takes place in house.
“It takes about a month and a half to train an engineer to be able to work
on the production line,” stated Bencsik. “Once trained, however, any one of
the workers is able to jump on the production line of any of the fixtures, as
they all follow similar protocols and methods in production.”
The theor y is that such a methodical level of manufacturing, backed
up by consolidated R&D, can lead only to greater innovation down the
line. “It’s one of the biggest things we learned from the consolidation
process,” concluded Glaubke. “Originally all the brands under the Harman
banner were operated as individual entities. But we believe as a group,
consolidating manufacturing process is a good thing as we have been
able to take the best elements from each brand and create a group-wide
standard. Martin, like the rest of the brands, has certainly benefited from
this and it will lead to greater innovations in the future.”
TPi
Photos: Harman
http://www.martin.com/en
http://www.pro.harman.comMARTIN BY HARMAN
Senior Manager for Materials and Logistics, Istvan Prehoffer and Senior Manager for Manufacturing Engineering, László Bencsik.