Page 26 - Ei Electronics Christmas Magazine 2024

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Manufacturing Operations
Manufacturing Changes in 2024
The changes to the manufacturing landscape, as outlined below, are co-ordinated,
managed and implemented by several teams that work very well together to
make the transitions as efficient as possible with minimum disruption to the
production output.
Plant Maintenance, Line Maintenance, Test Engineering, Automation and NPI
teams are all intrinsically involved to deliver against the manufacturing plans.
In continuing with the refurbishment plan for
Bays 40 to 43, it was necessary to relocate all the
production cells from Bay 43. This would then
leave all bays empty to facility the demolition and
refurbishment as planned. All cells required careful
re-validation after the relocation.
Ei6500 Cells #13 & #14 - It was decided early in
the year to increase the production capacity of
the Ei6500 in anticipation of future large orders.
Additional Cell #13 and #14 were planned and
installed in the new Bay 47 on the lower level.
Ei650PIC Cell #19 - An extra cell was put in place
to cater for the additional market requirement in
Germany.
TEC Cell - Additional telecare products
OK/NOK (Ei1120/1125) and the pendant
(Ei1150) were released (from Engineering) to
manufacturing. These products are a significant
departure from the standard smoke/heat alarms.
A new cell was designed and built in Bay 47B to
cater for these models. This cell will also cater
for the new Ei450 when the design is complete.
Transition to Ei600ST Series
The Ei600ST was designed to replace the existing Ei600PIC
series. The Ei600ST manufacturing process includes unique
serialisation, smarter testers to collect and verify the product
parametric data, tracking ability and using the Pack App to
provide additional interlocks and improve outgoing yields.
The existing 11 x Ei6500PIC cells were to be converted over
the year, considering current production capacity, materials and
product introduction into the marketplace. As we approach the
year end there are only 3 cells remaining to be converted. These
cells will be used to consume the existing PIC materials before
final conversion.
Ei6500RF module cells
All Ei6500RF module cells (x10)
were converted to facilitate the
transition to the STM32 radio chip.
Additional modifications were also
required to the RF testers in the
main Ei6500-OMS cells (x14).
Ei1000G (Rev 2)
The Ei1000G Rev 2 is a significant
departure from its predecessor. New
test equipment and a new process
was developed and validated to
deliver the product within the same
cell structure.
Ei407G
Again, this new product, designed
specifically for the German market,
required a new assembly and test
process. The layout was incorporated
into the existing Environmental
Sensor (Ei1020/1025) cell.
Additional Capacity for EiA600 series (OEM)
Cell #115 Ei600ST series was converted to the 4th EiA600
Series cell. This increased manufacturing capacity to 25k units
per week to cater for the additional demands.
Other Improvements
• A Battery Soldering Robot was introduced into the Ei3030 cell to help will process flow and increase
product reliability.
• A new RF programmer and tester, whereby the Serial label is preprinted, fitted and scanned at the tester
was developed for the Ei3000MRF cell (1 cell). This process assures that the fitted serial label matches the
serial number in the EEPROM.
• Ei1000G cell moved to B44
• Accessories cells (x2) moved to B44
• Deaf Alarm cell moved to B44
- Some of the Test Engineering Team involved -
Eleanor, Giully, Tom, Eoin, Dylan & John
Mary & Evelyn conducting a Manual Handling Session
- Some of the Line Maintenance Team involved -
Kieran, Leandro, Martin, Jeffrey, Ciaran & Vlad
- Some of the Plant Facilities Team involved -
Richie, Joey, Eoin & Peter
Cell Relocations
New Cell Builds
Cell Conversions
The health and safety of our employees, contractors,
visitors and any other stakeholders on site at
work continues to be a top priority. We strive to
continually improve our performance by using our
internationally recognised management systems, ISO
14001 Environment and ISO 45001 Occupational
Health and Safety. This year, as in previous years, we
successfully completed 2 on-site audits with no major
or minor non-conformances.
Ei works to provide an incident and injury free
environment by using hierarchy of controls
documented in our Risk Management System, ensuing
operational controls are safe, effective, and robust. This
year, we recorded 56 accidents, of which 10 resulted in
some lost time from work, and 201 near misses. The
focus and recording of near misses remain a critical
step in re-enforcing a safe working environment.
This year, VOCAM the online learning system that
we use was taken over and shut down by ELMO.
Subsequently, we engaged with ELMO to provide a
similar online service, including bespoke customised
training programs. The new Learning Management
Platform will be launched before year end.
As the business continues to grow so does Ei’s
committment to caring for people and we actively
encourage employees to manage their own personal
health and wellbeing by providing free use of our
state-of-the-art Gym. Additional wellbeing activities
include, Unislim, Pilates, and Astro Soccer. In addition,
we have trained mental health first aiders, fist aiders,
fire wardens and have 4 on site AED defibrillators.
As always, there was a significant amount of health &
safety training undertaken including EHS induction,
manual handling, fire warden, forklift, spill kit, noise
awareness and many more.
Health & Safety and Environment