Howdens Joinery is one of the UK’s largest manufacturers of fitted kitchens. Now the company is using screwdrivers with automatic feeds from international fastenings manufacturer Böllhoff, in order to speed production and overcome repetitive strain injuries (RSI).
Due to the increasing demand for the kitchen draw assemblies and the desire for better health and safety, Böllhoff Uniquick auto feed screwdriver systems were seen as the perfect replacement for manual pneumatic screwdrivers.
A Böllhoff Uniquick Basic system with overhead handling system and 90 degree locking option were chosen to assemble the draw runners and side assemblies. The automatic screw, blow feed system, greatly reduces assembly time, confirms Howdens Joinery, which has also purchased two Uniquick Basic systems and two Parallel suspension arms.
By using the Böllhoff automatic feed, screwdriver systems, productivity has doubled. Moreover, quality of the drawer assembly has improved, due to the parallel arm facility keeping the screwdriver head perpendicular to the drawer and runner assembly, guaranteeing the screw is driven home squarely.
The depth stop facility on the system also ensures that the drawer runner retaining screw is driven home to a pre-determined depth, avoiding over-tightening and costly breakages of the screws in the drawer sides. Meanwhile, repetitive strain has all but been eliminated for the operator with this system, with a much happier workforce, the company reports.
Each screwdriver system is assembling around 500 drawer assemblies per day. Each drawer runner has two securing screws, so a total of four screws per drawer – that’s a total of 2,000 screws per screwdriver system per day.
Due to their success, new Böllhoff Uniquick systems have been designed and Howden Joinery has purchased two Uniquick Advance Systems to assemble drawer runners to cabinet base units. The Uniquick Screwdriver Systems have benefited the customer by increasing productivity through speed of assembly and reliability, ensuring quality is improved and is consistent, and that there is reduced fatigue and RSI to the operator.
