Discover Fiam world: pneumatic, electric screwdrivers, assembly systems, air tools

POKA-YOKE is a Japanese term. But which is its real meaning? It is used to indicate a design choice or apparatus that imposes restrictions on how an operation can be carried out to force the user to do so correctly. This composite word literally means “avoid (yokeru) careless mistakes (poka)”.

Examples of poka-yoke are commonly found in the IT and audio/video sectors, for example in many electronic connectors.

There are three kinds of poka-yoke:

• Contact method: the physical characteristics of an object (shape, colour, etc.) highlight the correct position and prevent malfunctions due to incorrect contact;
• Fixed-value method: checks that a specific number of steps have been completed;
• Motion-step method: checks that all the steps in a specific process have been carried out in the correct order.

“Developing the industrial assembly station for Industry 4.0 environment” is the title of the seminar that was held by Fiam at its premises in Vicenza on 5 December. The director of Industria Italiana magazine, Filippo Astone, has moderated the work. The seminar has been a training occasion for production companies wishing to improve their assembly processes to achieve enhanced productivity and competitiveness by using strategies that involve the adequate design of flexible production systems, the study of machine tending logics and the provision of tightening stations with a view towards the use of new robot technologies.

The seminar, sponsored by the Veneto Region, has been part of the planned activities for business internationalisation and has aimed to offer industrial partners knowledge and experience on themes associated with the concept of Industry 4.0 within the framework of strategies for competitive development in globalised environments. Seminar speakers have been Maurizio Faccio, Professor of Mechanical Systems and Industrial Plant Management and Giulio Rosati, Professor of Mechanics Applied to Machinery and Industrial Robotics, both from the University of Padua. There have been question and answer sessions as well as practical workshops with collaborative robots to accompany the teaching activities.

Friday 16 November was the date for the ninth edition of PMI Day, held in Vicenza. The national event, organised by the Piccola Industria Committee [Small Business] of Confindustria Vicenza, focused this year on the fight against counterfeiting. Fiam began taking part in this initiative a few years ago, to help promote the business culture in its local area.