Panasonic Delivers Unrivalled Longevity and Reliability for ZF Automotive
Panasonic Delivers Unrivalled Longevity and Reliability for ZF Automotive
Panasonic’s market-leading smart factory solutions continue to deliver a competitive advantage for ZF Automotive after decades of uninterrupted service.
Challenge
Increase production capacity and efficiencies across ZF Automotive’s production lines in Europe, especially at its UK manufacturing facility.
Solution
Panasonic’s range of ultra-reliable SMT machines, and proprietary smart factory management software, has enabled ZF to maintain a competitive advantage across its production lines.
"Panasonic acts more like a strategic partner than a supplier, offering end-to-end support and expert guidance as the technology has evolved. Our relationship is built on decades of trust and collaboration, especially with the UK service team, who feel more like trusted friends than technicians. After 30 years, it’s seamless, reliable, and invaluable – providing complete peace-of-mind."
SMT Engineering Team Leader
ZF Automotive UK
ZF Friedrichshafen AG, (ZF), is a global technology company specialising in advanced mobility products and systems for passenger cars, commercial vehicles, and industrial technology. With manufacturing sites based in EMEA, APAC, and the Americas, ZF primarily manufactures electrical components used in automotive active safety features, such as ABS, traction control, and electronic stability control (ESC) solutions.
Within ZF Automotive’s UK factory, it was looking at how to ramp-up and maximise production capacity, albeit without increasing its physical footprint. Due to its existing strong relationship with Panasonic, it started trialling Panasonic’s range of SMT pick and place machines, mainly the CM402. Panasonic's high-performance and reliable CM402 is a popular choice for electronic manufacturers worldwide. It offers modular configurations, high-speed component placement, and support for a wide range of component sizes.
These soon proved vastly superior to those provided by other manufacturers, which required frequent maintenance that proved costly and slowed production capacity and output.
“We were very impressed with just how seamlessly Panasonic’s SMT machines worked from the first installation onwards. As we started to modernise the UK facility, we transitioned every production line over to Panasonic. Their superior speed has made a tangible difference to the output and quality of the components we have produced,” notes Wayne Temple, SMT Engineering Team Leader, ZF Automotive UK.
Constant Evolution for ZF
ZF soon added Panasonic’s CM602 into its production lines. It delivers increased speed, larger PCB handling capabilities, and advanced features, making it suitable for ZF’s high-volume and complex manufacturing environments across its production lines.
Capable of placing up to 100,000 CPH, it features a linear motor drive for increased reliability, compatibility with existing Panasonic CM series feeders and nozzles, and advanced placement quality enhancements such as board warp sensing. This has helped ZF minimise changeover time, delivering instant switching between components when manufacturing PCBs – key when ZF is using between 30 and 40 components per product, as part of a composite approach.
Panasonic’s SMT machines are incredibly intuitive, so ZF’s team required minimal training to switch from the CM402 to CM602, with both machines operating simultaneously. This familiarity with Panasonic’s equipment has enabled operational efficiency at around 85%-90%.
ZF has also invested in Panasonic’s high-performance NPM-W and NPM-W2 pick-and-place machines. Delivering flexible, high-volume manufacturing, the NPM-W2 builds upon the original NPM-W, offering enhanced speed, accuracy, and component handling – especially useful for ZF’s high-mix production lines.
Panasonic Setting New Standards in Reliability
One thing that soon became clear to ZF, when using Panasonic’s pick-and-place machines, were their excellent reliability and dependability. The first CM402 was installed in 2002 and ran uninterrupted until 2020, delivering approximately 160,000 hours of operation – with minimal maintenance required.
With additional CM402s coming on-line in 2004, alongside newer machines such as the CM602, these are still being used to manufacture all electronic components for ZF, across its 20 production lines in Europe, more than 20 years on. This level of reliability sets Panasonic apart from the competition, in delivering rock-solid, efficient, and automated solutions across the entire factory floor.
“We’ve built years of trust in Panasonic’s rock-solid machines and responsive support. When issues arise, its team is quick to respond, often arriving on-site within 12 hours if it can’t be resolved over the phone. They don’t just fix problems; they train our team to handle them in the future. We rarely need spare parts anymore; Panasonic’s machines work reliably every time with no interruptions,” adds Wayne Temple, SMT Engineering Team Leader, ZF Automotive UK.
For ZF Automotive’s UK operations, Panasonic’s pick-and-place machines have delivered both a lower total cost of ownership, and a vastly superior return on investment, compared to solutions offered by rival manufacturers. With no need to keep vast numbers of spares on-site, and Panasonic’s dependable and responsive engineers providing an unrivalled suite of wraparound services, it’s delivering a competitive advantage for ZF. This is invaluable for keeping up with relentless market demand.
Streamlining Operations with PanaCIM
ZF Automotive was previously struggling with component traceability and control, and scanning on the incumbent machines. Furthermore, the software it was using to regulate moisture during production was not fit for purpose.
This is where Panasonic’s PanaCIM proprietary software suite, designed for smart factory management and manufacturing execution systems, had a significant impact. Integrating various production processes, equipment, and enterprise systems into a unified platform has increased operational efficiency, traceability, and quality control for ZF Automotive UK.
More recently, ZF Automotive UK has used PanaCIM to re-optimise mature products on its production lines, leading to a 25% reduction in manufacturing cycle time.
A Partnership Rooted in Trust
Since Panasonic’s range of SMT pick and place machines and printers were first installed across ZF’s production lines in the early 2000s, the partnership has gone from strength to strength. The reciprocal nature of the relationship means that both ZF and Panasonic can bounce new ideas off each other as new technologies emerge into SMT environments, such as how to increase nozzle efficiency.
This makes the most of Panasonic’s industry knowledge, and ZF’s experiences on the production line from one day to the next – and what they require from their technology.
“Panasonic acts more like a strategic partner than a supplier, offering end-to-end support and expert guidance as the technology has evolved. Our relationship is built on decades of trust and collaboration, especially with the UK service team, who feel more like trusted friends than technicians. After 30 years, it’s seamless, reliable, and invaluable – providing complete peace-of-mind,” adds Wayne Temple, SMT Engineering Team Leader, ZF Automotive UK.
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