PROJECT STORY #02
New Product Created with
the Voice
of the Customers
"Safety Commander"
Overview
Adding safety features to tablets at the production cites
IDEC safety for introducing tablets to the evolving production cites
Safety commander is a tablet holder which is easy to set a safety device on a commercially-available tablet. In recent years, the number of cases to using a tablet to control a robot operation in a production site has become popular. However, controlling solely with a tablet is risky, and installing safety devices such as an emergency stop button switch, 3 position enable switch, etc. are required by the safety standards such as ISO/IEC* in order to terminate the machine immediately. A story of the employees who challenged to develop a product which accommodates customers' needs which will be growing in the future along with the passing of time.
*ISO/IEC = International Organization for Standardization/ International Electrotechnical Commission
Project member
-
PLANNING
Marketing and Strategy HQ Product Strategy Division
HMI Strategy Department -
DEVELOPMENT
R&D Division
Explosion-proof
& Components Product
Development Department -
PRODUCTION
Manufacturing Division
Manufacturing Technology Department
PROJECT STORY.01
Came up with a trending new product prototype to meet customer expectation
Our product development started with a customer's request to come up with a tablet holder to mount a safety device on a conventional tablet. Although a tablet is very versatile and cheap comparing to an existing control panel, using it without a safety device can be risky. The challenge was how to attach a safety device on the tablet.
"We, IDEC, were a bit hesitant to develop a product promoting tablet popularization while selling touch panel display as a major product", says a planning person in charge. Nonetheless, we started to come up with a prototype in order to meet our customer expectation who has faith in IDEC's safety products including an emergency stop button switch, 3 position enabling switch, etc.
When we listed the prototype at an industrial exhibition, received were surprisingly favorable feedbacks including "This is it! We were hesitant to use a tablet for mechanical control due to safety concerns", "We have been longing for a product like this", etc. We productized and released "HT3P Safety Commander" because we were convinced that there is a potential in the market with further growth.
PROJECT STORY.02
Revised new product "HT4P model" was released to accommodate further customer needs
Nearly 2 years after the release of HT3P model, the customer expressed their satisfaction with further needs such as connecting the device with a wired LAN, mounting a mechanical switch, using a large tablet, etc. A new safety commander "HTP4P model" was developed to accommodate these requests.
Our pre-release promotion went well and attracted many customers wanting the product ASAP, we decided to release our prototype products ahead of time. It has received much favorable feedback and its sales after the official release has been growing constantly.
PROJECT STORY.03
Established a means to make the product feel light by changing a way of thinking.
In addition, the product spec also covers its safetiness.
To meet our customer needs to make the product "compatible with a large tablet", the problem was its "weight". Although there is a difference in a greater or lesser degree, a tablet weighing about 500g and 1kg of a robust product model got us pondering on "how we could make the weight feel lighter to mitigate the workers' burden". Through the idea regeneration, our designer established a way to resolve the weight problem by shifting a position to hold a tablet from a hand to an arm.
Also, we must avoid a situation that an emergency stop button switch cannot be pressed for sure due to its weight. In order to secure its safeness simultaneously, we moved the switch to a position where the hand holding the tablet serves as a fulcrum point. Since a tablet needs to work both vertically and laterally, after a countless number of prototyping and experiments to keep the fulcrum point stay where it is, we have come up with a specification enabling to press the switch for sure at last.
PROJECT STORY.04
The future of the safety commander and the voice of the person in charge
Currently, we have been receiving many inquiries and orders from our corporate customers. Along with the diffusion of tablet in FA industry, further expansion of this product use is expected.
"Nothing is merrier than having come up with a product which did not exist in the past. I am proud of it!" says the planner.
Also, the designer who designed the product expressed that "it was good to have been engaged with the product design because it led to my own growth despite many challenges at the beginning for having dealt with a products different from what I used to be in charge of."
The product is difficult and involves a time-consuming inspection process with many variations. However since it allows us to escalate needs from production sites where they possibly use our products, and ultimately it comes down to everything including us, further evolution, and our customers. "Kensa ganbari masu! (I will do my best to perform inspection!)" says an inspector.
The safety commander was developed as a result of our corporate effort.
He believes the product diffusion will resolve the social issue in labor depopulation as its operability and expression (in multi-language display) can help female and/or foreign workers, who were not comfortable with its existing operation devices, working on a manufacturing site. He wants to continue developing products which considers resolutions for social issues and actualizing well being let alone their safety and security.
