- Customer Success with Koh Young
SICK Hungary Achieves Manufacturing Excellence with Koh Young
SICK Kft. Hungary stands as a testament to manufacturing excellence in Eastern Europe. As the largest production site in the SICK concern, this Hungarian facility has successfully transformed its manufacturing operations through the strategic implementation of Koh Young inspection systems. With over 800 employees producing more than 15 million units annually across 1,500 different products, ranging from magnetic sensors to complex scanners with over 700 different components, the facility required inspection solutions that could match their extraordinary scale, complexity, and ambitious quality standards.
The decision to implement Koh Young technology emerged from extensive internal discussions and careful evaluation of global best practices within the SICK organization. “Within the SICK world, we discussed the experiences with these machines, and we decided on Koh Young machines,” explains Imre Vido, Managing Director of SICK Kft. Hungary, whose leadership has been instrumental in driving the facility’s technological advancement.
This decision was not made in isolation but rather as part of a comprehensive strategy for global alignment and operational excellence. “We would like to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of our processes, and for this reason we try to harmonize the structures, the machines between us, so that means we can use the best practices from each other. That is another reason we selected Koh Young Machines,” Vido emphasizes, highlighting the collaborative approach that defines SICK’s global manufacturing strategy.
The harmonization strategy proves particularly powerful given the different economic contexts of SICK's operations. "We are here in Hungary in a so-called low-cost country, and our German production is a high-cost country. Independent from that, we have common goals for our processes," Vido explains, underscoring how Koh Young technology serves as a unifying platform that transcends geographical and economic boundaries.To make the right choice, Kiet and his team evaluated three other manufacturers alongside Koh Young in a side-by-side analysis. As Kiet elaborated, “We eliminated two of those manufacturers early, which left Koh Young head-to-head against another manufacturer. We were able to visit other local users who had the machines. This personal engagement gave us a good understanding of the company. Koh Young's reputation was very highly regarded.”
Ambitious Expansion Plans: Building for the Future
Based on their overwhelmingly positive experience, SICK Kft. Hungary has committed to a comprehensive expansion of their Koh Young implementation. “We will also start in Hungary to install the inline Koh Young AOIs, and step by step we will extend the capacity of the SPI systems and also the AOI,” Kiss confirms, outlining a phased approach to technology adoption.
The vision for expansion is both ambitious and methodical. “Step by step we would like to increase or extend each line, each assembly line with SPI and also inline AOIs. So, with this process we will reduce the production cost and also reduce the throughput times,” Kiss explains. This systematic approach ensures that each implementation phase builds upon previous successes while maintaining operational stability.
“With the inline SPIs and AOIs, we only have to check a small percentage of the final product manually,” Kiss notes, representing a paradigm shift in quality assurance methodology.
Beyond pure efficiency gains, the Koh Young systems support SICK’s broader strategic objectives. One of the most important goals for us besides increasing efficiency and effectiveness, is to increase flexibility. We try to build up systems for that, we try to build up production lines for this goal and the machines from Koh Young support all these goals, this flexibility proves crucial for a facility producing over 3,000 different product variants with an annual output of approximately €160 million.”
Imre Vido
Managing Director of SICK Kft. Hungary
Proven Partnership: Leveraging Global Synergies
The success of Koh Young implementation at SICK Kft. Hungary exemplifies the power of strategic partnerships that span multiple facilities and leverage collective expertise. “We discussed the topics with the colleagues in Germany because SICK also has seven production lines in Germany with the Koh Young SPIs and also AOIs,” Kiss shares, illustrating the depth of integration between facilities.
This collaboration extends beyond mere information sharing to include practical operational benefits. “We also have some parallel productions for the higher energy products we produce in Hungary and also in Germany, and of course, we can share the best practices and also the programs, and it will be very useful for us,” Kiss explains. This program sharing capability significantly reduces setup times for new products and ensures consistent quality standards across all SICK facilities.
The collaboration between SICK Kft. Hungary and Koh Young exemplifies how advanced inspection technology, combined with global best practice sharing, strong technical support, and visionary leadership, can drive manufacturing excellence across diverse product portfolios and production environments. As SICK continues to expand its Koh Young implementation, the company stands poised to set new standards for manufacturing excellence in Eastern Europe and beyond.
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